The dark Uzumaki
by KaminoShinigami
Summary: Naruto is evicted from the orphanage at the age of four where a strange caretaker gives him a strange scroll and instructions to go to the Uzumaki compound in eastern Konoha. He learns of a training ground in the mountains he goes there and meets new friends that forge a family with him before he has to come back to Konoha to be a genin on team seven. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- I do not own the Naruto series. This is merely a fan made story.

Chapter 1-

It was near midnight and a small blonde was standing on the roof of a building. "Jeez, this place is so boring and bland." He said quietly while running his hand through his small bag before pulling out a large can of pink spray paint. "Now let's get to work." He cheered to himself in his head.

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"Naruto! What did you do this time?" A tall woman said while leaning over a young blond kid. Her face was twisted in anger. "Well, kid?" She demanded an answer. Only for the kid to sigh and shrug his shoulders.

"I didn't do anything bad, all I did was add a little color to the area." He muffled before she lost it and smashed him on the head.

"A little color! You painted the entire orphanage bright pink!" She roared as he winced under her hand. She returned her hand back to her side before sighing and regaining her control. "It is settled. The other caretakers and I have decided that you are too much of a bad influence on the other children, and so are expelling you from the orphanage." She said calmly before turning to walk out of the room.

Naruto sat there rubbing his aching head. "How could they just throw me out? Where will I go, I'm only four years old." he thought to himself. It was late and so he decided that he should sleep and in the morning he would figure out what was going on.

That morning when he woke up he could smell the morning meal and jumped from his bed and ran to the table. He sat along next to all the other kids and waited patiently as the caretakers walked past everyone giving them a serving of food. When they reached Naruto they skipped right past him and served the boy next to him.

He stood up and walked over to the caretaker that was in charge of severing the food. "Uh...I think you missed me." Naruto said while holding his bowl up towards the pot that contained all the food.

"No, I didn't forget you. WE just don't feed people who don't live here." He said with a smirk on his face. "And by the way the head caretaker wants you to gather your things and leave as soon as possible," he added before lifting the massive pot and walking back into the kitchen.

Later that day Naruto was sitting in his room pondering why the orphanage had suddenly become so hostile towards him, he ran through his memories thinking about the other pranks he pulled off. None of them threatened to get him evicted but this time, he was being ripped from his home on one of his smaller pranks. He knew everyone hated him, but he didn't care since he was fed and given a place to stay. He pushed his thoughts to the side and began packing since he was told to be out that afternoon.

Once finished packing his three jumpsuits and his commodities he made his way to the door. When pushed open the door he was met with one of the newer caretakers. She was a shy character that had blood red hair and always seemed to watch Naruto when he wasn't watching her. She had a small tear line on her cheek but wiped it before hugging Naruto.

He was in an astonished gaze from random caretaker hugging him so he pushed her red hair from his face and pushed her off of himself. "Who are you?" Naruto asked her while setting his suitcase on the ground. "I'm not important but you are. You are a Uzamaki but since you are the last remaining male you are the clan head." She said while gathering herself in all the emotion. "Here take this and go to the Uzumaki compound. When you are there open this seal." She added while pulling a scroll from her pocket handing it to the child.

Naruto stared her down with caution before taking to scroll and placing it in his pocket. "What exactly do you mean by clan head?" Naruto questioned her with a confused expression.

She began to lose herself to emotion but again gained control. "Naruto-kun you are the new leader of the Uzamaki clan. You will bring our clan back to its former glory, you must." She explained while grabbing his hand. "I have waited four long years in patience for you to come of age but since you are being evicted I shall go ahead and turn over the clan and its compound to you." She commented with a saddened tone before turning away and walking out into the darkness.

Naruto stood there in a daze. "Why was she so emotional? Who the hell does that, what a weirdo. What the hell does a clan head mean anyway?" He thought to himself before picking his suitcase up and walking aimlessly down the street. As he was walking for about ten minutes he went to place his hand in his pocket and felt the scroll, he thought about the improbability that he would be a clan for him but his also thought why not before he changed his path.

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"Wow..." Naruto drew on as he stood before an immense door that towered over the child. He looked closer at the doors and saw that etched ever so slightly in the center was the name 'Uzumaki'. "Amazing," He thought before he neared it even more before pushing against it. After a small creak, the door split in two and opened inwards revealing a beautiful pond with a small red bridge over it. The compound also had a very decorative housing zone and other buildings that blew Naruto's mind.

He made his way through the doors and onto a wooden pathway that walked the edges of the buildings. After he passed through the doors, they closed on their own startling the child. He shivered and began walking towards the largest building which he assumed was the housing. He entered the building but only saw paper walls and some decorations on the walls, so he walked in and made his way into the nearest room which happens to be the kitchen.

Much to his delight the cabinets were fully stored with canned food and other provisions. He ate himself a hefty meal before continuing his investigation. He went through multiple empty rooms before finally he entered one that was the farthest in the back of the building that had a large sitting area and behind the table was a large bed. Naruto smiled and laughed to himself before jumping onto the dusty bed. The dust flew into the air causing him to sneeze a few times before he evacuated the bed. "Jeez! How old is this place?" he thought to himself before remembering the scroll he had placed in his pocket. He grabbed it from his pocket and looked at it, "What do I have to lose..." He thought.

He walked over to the table and rolled open the scroll onto it. He looked at the intricate patterns on the seal before remembering what he read in the books at the local library. "This is a blood seal?" He said quietly. He shrugged and shook his head before biting his thumb and swiping it across the scroll.

It began glowing before it exploded out with a flash knocking Naruto back on the bed behind him. The bright flash knocked the boy out cold.

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He woke up in the earlier part of the morning around five or so when he stood his head pulsed in pain and he stumbled a little. He made his way to the kitchen where he pushed open the door to find it in a pristine condition. The dust and dirt was gone the counters and the cabinets were all clean and redone, he also opened them to find a new storage of food. He was thoroughly confused since he was told that the Uzamaki compound was deserted since the death of the fourth Hokage.

He grabbed a small protein bar and started a stroll through the compound to see what all had changed and to his amazement the entire facility was renewed and had been completely refurbished as well.

He finally decided that it had to be that scroll and so went back to the kitchen to finish eating; once he finished he went to the back room where he studied the scroll. He noticed that it was very detailed and that there was a large erase mark across the center where he had dragged his bloody thumb across. As he continued to study the strange scroll he held it to his face to get a closer look before it began glowing again. He panicked and threw it down but it still flashed and he felt a burning sensation in the center of his forehead before he collapsed seized.

When it ended a few minutes later he stood and looked around him. "What? How the hell am I supposed to restore this pile of crap?" the blonde stated with a F**k MY LIFE face. He walked over to and sat on the large chair at the back of the tables, his mind ran through memories that he had just gotten. The scroll passed on almost all of the Uzamaki traditions and family secrets, he mainly focused on the training and realizing that there were several training facilities throughout the nations and the closest was at a mountain in the forest outside of Konoha.

He thought to himself about the dangers of leaving the town at such a young age but his tenacity got the better of him and he ran straight out of the room. He ran out of the building and through the gigantic gates and into the city of Konoha. He stopped to look for the exit remembering how hard it was to get here, but only saw a sign that read 'Outer residential'. Naruto stood and tried to remember where that was since he used to read old maps to find escape routes once he pranked people. "That's right this is in the eastern district!" He cheered before dashing off to the right of the gates.

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When he reached the outer gates he stopped to catch his breath and to look back at the village. "s-soon yo-ou will all know m-my true strength." He said quietly while panting heavily.

Later that afternoon Naruto was walking down the barely visible path that ran through the forest. He was blown away by nature and the beauty it held. He loved the green and the smells he could sniff out but instead of going off to explore he knew he had to get to the mountain outpost or else he has to survive throughout the night.

He continued to press through dozens or harsh spots and even crawled through a cave infested with insects and snakes. Naruto finally popped his head out from this cave to see the base of the mountain a few meters away from him. He cheered and jumped from the cave only to hear an immense growl behind him. He thought for a split second then realized it was a bear. He slowly turned to see a massive brown bear standing on its hind legs behind him. It made eye contact before slashing out at the child, which Naruto screamed and dodged by jumping to the ground.

Naruto screamed even louder when bear fell to the ground and stuck its head next to his. But much to his amazement it stopped growling and instead winced a little before it turned and scurried into the forest. Naruto jumped to his feet and quickly brushed himself off. "Yeah! You better run you beast!" Naruto roared out while shaking a fist. He turned around with his eyes closed and a smile on his face, but when he went to walk his face was smashed in by a massive fist. He went flying back a few feet and landed on his back. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was at least ten men in full shinobi clothes, they were fully equipped and their headbands had the mark of the leaf on it. "W-why..." Naruto whispered as he faded into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto or any of its characters this is a fan made a story.

Chapter 2-

AN: I am adding in the Nine tails early, with this I am changing its view of Naruto entirely. He will instead see the poor child a mere kit and will begin to aid him with his knowledge. Kurama's voice and thoughts will be represented by italics.

Another thing, I am an insanely impatient person so I'm not going to do a weekly or periodic post thing. I will, however, post as I finish my chapters so be prepared for various times between the chapters but it will never be more than a week in between chapters.

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His head ached and his body was cold but Naruto still pushed his eyes open. "Ugh….Where the hell am I?" He said aloud not expecting someone to answer but as he opened his eyes he was given an answer. "You're in the Uzamaki mountain training ground known as Konoha-7." A middle-aged woman said with a smile. She had long straight black hair and was wearing a slightly seductive red dress.

Naruto was oblivious to the fact that he was knocked out and drug to this place. "who are you, and how do you know where that is?" he questioned while making his way to the edge of the insanely fluffy bed he was sleeping in. She waited for the young blonde to stand on his feet after getting out of the bed before she stood from the small cherry wood chair.

"Come we have some things to discuss and I have someone I think you'd like to meet." She commented while motioning for the door. Naruto nodded hesitantly before joining her side. As they walked to the door he looked at the walls and finally took in the beauty. The back wall was riddled with ancient books, and the rest where painted a vibrant crimson red and had pictures and plaques of various people. "Who are these people?" He asked her while pointing at a large picture with a red headed women and a blonde man.

She read the plaque and frowned a little. "That is the fourth Hokage of Konoha Minato Namikaze. The woman was his wife Kushina Uzumaki she was a kind woman." She said sadly before continuing on her path to the door.

Once the two entered the hallway she laughed a little at Naruto, who had it had finally dawned on. "Wait what I remember now. Who were those guys that knocked me out. How did I get here?" He roared at the woman who continued to laugh.

"Please Master Naruto calm down it was merely to get you here secretly and safely. Now if you'd come with me there is someone you'd like to meet and he will inform you about everything." She said while trying to calm the child.

"Fine but make it snappy before I lose it and show you my ninja prowess...Wait did you just call me 'Master Naruto'?" he added while crossing his arms.

"Yes, you see my family and I show our gratitude to the Uzumaki's by maintaining this sacred training ground." She answered before pushing on the boy's back starting them back on their path.

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They were walking silently through a long dark corridor, Naruto was fascinated by the pictures and their captions. They were nearing a clearing and as they breached it they were in a massive living room. There were ten or so men sitting in the center of the room. Naruto quickly realized and pointed it out that they were the ones that knocked him out.

"hey you jerks, remember me? Who do you think you are hitting me like that?" he raged at them but was silenced when an older gentlemen stepped in front of him. "Excuse me sir but are you the Uzumaki boy I've been hearing about?" His rheumatic voice interrupted the child.

Naruto calmed himself and nodded agreement before the man's face darkened. "Good then come with me. Now!" He commanded at the child before he grabbed his arm and the duo vanished in thin air.

"Well, that's Tomoko for you." The woman chuckled before taking a seat with the men.

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Naruto was feeling nauseous after the sudden burst of speed the old man generated but managed to ask where they were now. "Well boy we're at the beginning of your destiny as the only one that can save you the clan," he responded proudly but only making Naruto face palm.

"Everyone keeps talking about this save the clan stuff. How am I going to restore something I didn't even know existed until yesterday?" Naruto said confusingly.

"Ssshhh, my boy we will talk about this later when you are older and less...puny? No more like pathetic. Yes! That's the word." he chuckled towards the boy but only got an unamused face and a growl. "Okay humor not a good thing yet, well anyway I'm going to put you through some training since I believe that was the reason you came here anyway." He added. This time, Naruto was ecstatic and cheered.

"What are we going to do? Some awesome hand to hand combat or a special Jutsu that will win any fight?" Naruto thought in his head with a series of colorful images of him as a shinobi.

"Here I have provided a small bag of rations that should be about a weeks worth of water and about three or so days of food. Now I'm going to take you blindfolded into mountains where you will learn to survive on your own. If you can make it to a shack that is on the eastern base of the mountain, I will teach you three powerful Jutsu." He informed the child before blindfolding him with a piece of cloth he pulled from his pocket.

"Wait why do I have to be blindfolded, old man?" He asked.

"Well if I didn't you could easily follow the trail back to where we started." the old man answered. "And by the way my name Tomoko so stop calling me old you little squirt!" he raged a little at the blonde.

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"Are we there yet?" Yelled the child as the old man carried him up the mountain.

"Just about." The man said after laughing a little. They continued walking until they reached a large clearing that was covered with fallen trees.

"Here, let me get that blindfold." He said after dropping the boy to the ground. "Why so ruff you old fart?" Naruto mumbled while standing back up.

The old man ran through the bag making sure that everything was there and checked if Naruto was still in top shape. "Good now I will be waiting at the shack that's at the eastern base of the mountain. Meet me there by the end of the week and I will teach you some cool Jutsu." He added before he vanished in a flicker. Now alone in this mysterious overgrowth, he sat on a large log that was lying against another tree and thought about his game plan for the next week. "Okay, first I have to get to that shack, If I can get there I can learn those Jutsu." He said with an excited tone. "Now to find out where the hell I am." He added before his stomach released an unsettling growl.

He rubbed his stomach as he stood from the log and made his way over to the sack that sat on the ground where the old man had placed it. He went to lift the bag, but to his surprise, the sack was very light. He questioned himself on if it was that light when he was holding it back at the training grounds but he remembered it being heavier. When he peered inside his jaw dropped and his heart sank to his stomach.

"Where did all the food go!" He screamed out before falling to the ground. He became delirious and started to roll around vigorously. "I'm going to die. I'm dead, yep this is it. Death to me." He said in a chuckling way before he stopped rolling. Just as he finished his outbreak the sun began it's decent below the horizon. Naruto laid there on the ground staring up at the gorgeous pink sky, he thought of Konoha and how the jerks at the orphanage kicked him out because of one stupid little prank. He ran through dozens of different thoughts before a memory shined through the fog that was his swirling mind.

It was the picture of the fourth and his wife. "If I am to become Hokage one day I can't let a little survival trip stomp on me, and end my journey now," Naruto said while reaching a hand up at the now dark speckled night sky. He leaned back then jumped forward onto his feet.

"Now let's find somewhere to sleep tonight." He cheered while rubbing his hands together for warmth.

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Naruto sat wearily on the cold moist ground, his back to a large oak tree. He was nibbling on some nuts that he managed to find on the ground around the tree. It was late and his shivering was intense. "I'm so c-cold. I-I need some w-where to warm-m up." he cried while pushing himself to stand from the ground. He had already surveyed the area and notice a large indent in one of the trees that he might be able to cram himself into. He considered it a possible place to sleep but he didn't know if he would fit or if he could even get back out.

"Must keep moving. Must keep warm." He kept reminding himself as he started walking towards the eastern side of the overgrowth. He knew his direction since he saw the sun set in the west.

After walking for some time he had to stop, his stomach was growling and his body was aching from premature frostbite. He stood in a clearing to think about his situation but couldn't come up with an answer until he heard a dark menacing voice. "Child listen to me. Burrow like the kit you are. Dig a hole next to the tree of your liking then crawl inside. The dirt will naturally equalize the temperature."

Naruto jumped backward and quickly scoped the landscape. "Who's there?" He demanded before the voice started laughing. "I see they didn't inform you of me. Well, that would seem troublesome for someone like you to know, well anyway I am the nine tailed beast Kurama. You are my jinchuuriki, in other words, you are my vessel as I am sealed inside of your body." He told the boy.

Naruto flipped his sh*t and immediately started panicking.

"You mean that giant fox the destroyed the village and killed the fourth Hokage four years ago? How were the hell you sealed inside of me? What's going o..." Naruto questioned before he passed out from a panic attack.

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Naruto woke ten minutes later with a panicked expression. He jolted up and got to his feet. "Uh...Kurama? A-Are you there?" He asked sheepishly.

"I am always here boy. Now dig a goddamn hole. If you parish I go as well and trust me the reincarnation process isn't fun at all." the fox demanded scaring Naruto who instantly started grabbing at the ground.

"Oh kami if there really is the nine tails inside of me he could kill me at any moment." the boy feared in his head. His hands were cold and numb but he could still feel the cold blood run from his fingernails and the pulsing sensation of his finger ripping at the ground.

After a few minutes he stopped due to the fact that he couldn't dig any further, he had dug into the ground about a foot deep but his hands couldn't get past the compact dirt.

"Kurama I can't dig any further my hands can keep going." He cried to the fox.

"You kit are so needy...fine I shall release to you some of my chakra and teach you a simple technique that shall allow you to dig faster and deeper." The mighty fox stated which Naruto exploded with joy on the inside. "Awesome a technique taught by one of the great-tailed beasts." he thought inside before suddenly his body was erased of all pain and his fingers healed instantly.

"Until now I have locked away your jinchuuriki regeneration but now you might need it to overcome the starvation and the hypothermia that's eating at your feet and hands. Now from these hand seals and channel the chakra that I just gave you. Now do as I say perform the Snake, Boar, then Rat hand signs." He told the child only for Naruto to fail miserably at the hand signs.

"I don't know any of the hand signs. I haven't been taught any of them yet." Naruto confessed after a few failed attempts at the snake sign.

"That seems so, fine then I shall teach you these three signs for now but you need to master them on you one time you runt" He responded angrily.

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"Now again, this time with the chakra!" The fox roared at the boy causing him to put everything he had into his new Jutsu. Naruto flashed through the three hand signs before his hands erupted into a bright orange aura. "I did it Kurama!" Naruto squealed while marveling at his hands.

Kurama laughed to himself before commanding the child to finish digging before he falls to hypothermia. Naruto instantly complied and shoved his hands into the ground, they easily pierced the dirt and rocks before it completely incinerated it.

"Alright, I'm finished!" Naruto cheered while staring at the immense hole he created.

"You've done well kit but it seems you've created more of a crater than a den. Either way, you should hurry and climb in before you fall to hypothermia," he warned the blonde.

Naruto jumped into the hole and balled up next to a large rock he couldn't excavate. He then piled dirt on himself to act as a blanket before he dozed off into an awkward slumber.

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"Where am I?" Naruto thought as he was standing in a large sewer with dark murky water at his ankles. He saw a bright light illuminating from one of the many tunnels and decided to head towards it.

As he breached through the light he was confronted by an enormous golden gate that had a giant seal plastered on the center of the doors. Behind it was a dark cold enigma that he could hear moving but couldn't see.

As he neared the massive gate a colossal fox smashed his head against the gate. "K-Kurama..." Naruto squealed before he screamed and ran full speed away from the room.

Come back child. It's only me, a giant murderous fox...I'm fun to play with I swear...I'm nice and fluffy" He joked before he became more serious and demanded the child to explain how he had entered the seal.

Naruto was hesitant but poked his head from behind the wall separating the room from the corridor. "I'm where?" He asked with fear evident in his voice.

"They seal that the Fourth Hokage placed on you to seal me away. How did you get here...No, I know what it was. When I gave you some of my chakra for the first time the seal must have allowed you to enter to check its integrity." Kurama answered before he growled at Naruto and returning to the darkness that was his domain in the cage.

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Naruto was wondering aimlessly for what felt like hours in the strange tunnels before he stepped into one room that contained nothing but a normal red door. He walked up to the door and pressed fourth hoping that he could leave this demented place.

When he opened the door everything turned white before his eyes opened to reveal that he was outside and back in the forest.

"Yay me I'm back alone...starving...and cold. But in the woods!" He cheered before his stomach growled stopping his sarcastic cheer.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer- I do not own the Naruto series this is only a fan made the story.

An: There might be some questions about something that happens in the earlier part of this chapter. He is still a four-year-old but I will explain this eventually, maybe in the fourth chapter so calm down.

Chapter 3-

"Snake, boar then rat. Snake, boar then rat." Naruto repeated to himself as he walked quickly down a thin trail that he stumbled upon in the early morning. He flashed through the combo multiple times at insane speeds as he walked. He channeled his own chakra in many failed attempts to recreate the Jutsu. He couldn't quite get the right amount he needed so the Jutsu either overloaded and stopped or didn't even activate. "Damn it! Kurama why isn't it working anymore?" The boy said aloud.

"Be patient child this Jutsu requires a large amount of chakra control as to not destroy the user's hands and arm in the process. It worked before because you were using my chakra which overloaded the amount needed and did as I told it to." The fox explained leaving Naruto in a depressed state.

"What is chakra control?" Don't you just force your chakra to work?" Naruto questioned the fox.

"No, you fool a ninja needs to learn chakra control so that he can master his chakra to perform Jutsu and various other techniques." It answered. Naruto was gloomy for a second then exploded in joy.

"Do you hear that Kurama?" He said while starting a tired jog towards a grouping brush.

When Naruto broke through the brush he was in a large stone clearing that had a wide channel of water stretching through it. Naruto instantly fell to his knees at the bank and shoved his face into the water. After a few seconds, the boy's upper torso erupted from the water like a geyser. "Ow! That's hot. OOOHHHH HOT HOT HOT HOT!" He bellowed while backing from the hot spring.

Kurama was laughing to himself about the child's reaction to his first hot spring. "Well boy how does the water feel?" he mocked. Naruto threw a small fit and spat off at the fox, only for it to warn him not to anger the Kyuubi.

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Naruto sat on the edge of the bank and had his feet soaking in the warm bath. His stomach was still growling and gnawing at him but his regeneration made it easy to deal with and his need for water was solved since he drank some of the boiling water (much to his pain).

He was sitting there enjoying his foot bath when his hearing picked up on what he thought was the sounds of dogs barking. "I wonder what that was?" He thought after the barking turned into the whining of dogs. He stood from his bath and decided that maybe there might be some hunters and they might have some food, or they might even take him to the shack.

As he walked in the direction he heard the sound come from his ears stopped hearing the barking and now heard nothing but growling and a faint whine. He kept walking searching for the sound until he stepped past a collection of brush which happened to cloak a small cliff. Naruto now too far over the edge to save himself plummeted from the cliff's edge.

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When his eyes opened he found himself in a small cave-like place, his head was killing him as he slowly stood from the ground. He looked around in awe at the beautiful stalagmites and stalactites. "Wow..." He drew on while taking in the scenery before the sound of dogs growling filled his ear.

He instantly turned around to see a pack of a dozen wolves staring him in the eye. "Aw, crap. K-Kurama?" He squealed before a wolf from the side of the pack charged him. Naruto barely had time to throw up his arms to somewhat block the impact but was still bitten on his wrist on his right arm. The large wolf's weight sent Naruto to the ground where he hit his head again.

The wolf continued past him and attacked what Naruto now saw was the whining he heard earlier. It was a tall white fox with bright red eyes, it's fur was dirty and matted and Naruto could see multiple areas where it was stained with blood. Even with its current condition it still captivated the child. Naruto rolled over and charged the wolf that was on its way to attack the fox.

He crawled then stood mid crawl into a full on sprint and flashed through his hand signs and gave it everything he had. Once he finished the rotation of hand signs his hands erupted into a blue flaming aura. He continued charging but two more wolves from the pack sped towards him and easily closed in on him. Naruto saw them just as they pounced and his instincts took over his body.

He stopped running and slid to a stop as he slammed one fist into the snout of the first wolf crushing it's skull and shattering its neck as it went flying. He then immediately was tackled by the second wolf and was again bitten but this time on his shoulder. They rolled on the ground for a second before Naruto started screaming as he overpowered the beast and sat on it before slamming multiple punches up close into its body.

When he stood his expression was a demented empty smile, he had the animal's blood splattered on his face and on his sleeves. He started laughing quietly to himself before looking over a fox that was engaged in combat with the original wolf. Naruto started on his way towards the combatants.

When he got there he slammed a powerful elbow into the wolf's spine then uppercut the beast in the stomach complete shredding it's insides. Naruto now stood panting in exhaustion staring at the fox he saved from the wolf. He studied it and saw that it's front right leg was swollen a lot and it was shaking, barely standing. Naruto fell to his knees in front of the beast and slowly and calmly stroked its beautiful fur. "It's alright buddy. I'm going to make sure you get out of here alive with me." Naruto said to the matted ball of fluff.

It merely winced at him but he knew that it knew what he said. As he stood he noticed a small strange shadow underneath its belly. He merely nodded and thought it was the lighting in the cave shaking it off.

"Naruto how the hell did you do that. You're only a mere child!" Roared Kurama from the child's stomach. "I don't know myself, I just felt the movements and made them," he responded as he turned to face the wolves which had already started their attack.

His Jutsu had reached its limit and so he was stuck with his regular fist but that didn't deter him from charging the wolves. He shifted to the right dodging a small pounce before he was double teamed from behind by the two largest wolves in the pack. They ripped their heads back and fourth after grabbing a large mouth full of Naruto's back. He screamed out in pain before his instincts took control again. He stopped screaming and his arms pushed off the ground, his body was shaking and his muscles were flexed at their max as he lifted himself from the ground. He elbowed one of the wolves that were still clinging to his back causing it to let go before he jumped onto his back crushing the other wolf. He stood and quickly countered the previous wolf's attack by punching it in the forehead as it went to bite him. The other wolf he jumped on had broken its leg and a rib or two and couldn't even stand so Naruto let it live.

When he looked for the other wolves he saw them all ready to pounce on the white fox. He made a mad dash but wasn't fast enough. He rushed in and tried his hardest to rip the wolves off of the fox but the kept ripping her apart. Her blood was sent into the air and landed on Naruto's face as he fell to his knees and watched in horror.

His expression was dark and hollow as he watched the wolves devour the fox. He had never been confronted with death in person and it mentally destroyed him.

"NO...NO...NO" He roared out as he stood to his feet. His eyes twitched and began to change back and forth between the fox's and his own. His teeth began stretching into massive canines and his fingernails also stretched into long claws. Red chakra started pouring from his stomach and covered his entire body in a complete aura. He released a blood curtailing roar before he steadily walked up to the wolves. They all stopped eating and watched the boy in absolute fear. Their wincing caused him to laugh and he drew his arm back as he neared them even closer.

He proceeded to slowly rip and slice the dogs into nothing more than a bloody pile of fur. When he was finished he stood in front of the white fox in sorrow, his chakra cloak slowly faded as he fell to his knees. "I'm so sorry." He repeated to himself as he slowly lifted the mangled corpse. When he did so he started to hear a very quiet sound come from beneath the fur. He quickly moved the body revealing a tiny fox kit. Its fur was dirty and wet it had blood on its face and paws but Naruto still picked up the kit and hugged it gently to his chest. It's crying slowly stopped as he held to his body and it opened its eyes to see the young blonde staring at it.

Naruto stood and looked around in disgust, "I'm a monster," He whispered to himself as he began to cry. He began to walk towards what he believed to be the exit with the kit in his arms.

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Naruto found his way back to the hot spring where he was before. His eyes had finally dried up. Naruto, Kurama, and the kit all three walked in silence to the hot spring.

When at the hot spring Naruto knelt down on one knee and cupped his hand, he used the warm water to clean the small fox before he stared at his own reflection in the water. His expression was still the dark empty one from before as he stared at the water. He placed his face and upper torso in the water for a few seconds before his body went numb and he fell in completely. Naruto's body rotated in the water and floated leaving only his face above the water's surface. The sky was in the process of turning to night and he just stared at the vibrant display of colors as he floated in the large pond.

"Naruto. I understand how this could be damaging for a child but this is sadly how the cycle of life works. Although she died her life energy and her body will bring life for something new. She may be dead physically but she lives on inside that kit over there sleeping on the bank. Now pull yourself out of this irritating mood! Aren't you supposed to become the Hokage?" Kurama spoke to the child.

Naruto's head shook slowly before he started for the bank. "Thank you Kurama. But I think I have to find my own resolve to this." Naruto said solemnly before crawling out of the pond. He walked over to the small fox kit and lifted his lightly as to not wake it and held him in his arms. Naruto began to make his way back to the hold he was sleeping in the night before.

That night Naruto didn't sleep he just sat there with the fox in his lap, slowly stroking its silky fur.

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Naruto was sitting still when he could feel the dog wake and stretch its small body. "Good you're awake. I've finally come up with a good name for you. Shadow since I found you in your mother's shadow." Naruto said with a smile while he played with the fox's ears. The small fur ball barked in agreement before it rolled and rubbed itself against Naruto and licked his face. The blonde laughed at the small kit before they both got up.

"Well, Shadow we've got a lot of walking to do so come on!" Naruto said while waving to the small dog. Shadow barked at the boy and joined his side.

"seems he's taken a liking to you Naruto. But what kind of name is Shadow you, stupid runt." Kurama growled from his stomach.

"Quiet Kurama he is my responsibility so I decide what his name shall be, even if it is stupid and childish." Naruto responded along with a small bark from Shadow that you could tell was his way of saying 'what he said'.

Naruto and shadow were walking for hours now and both were starving. Naruto feared for the kit's safety and so he stopped to search around. He saw a deer of in the distance but he couldn't kill a deer let alone skin and cook it. He looked down at the little kit starving and teared up a bit. "Come here shadow," Naruto called to him before lifting him and placing him on his shoulders. Naruto shortly after securing the kit blasted off in the direction he believed was the east.

After a painful thirty minutes, Naruto stopped at a staircase which leads down the mountain. "This must be that bobbing I felt when Tomoko brought me up here." Naruto thought before pressing through the pain in his side to run down the stairs. When he neared the bottom there standing proudly was Tomoko.

"Master Naruto!" He cheered as the blonde stopped in front of him. "Uh what is that, a white fox on your shoulder?" he questioned the blond.

"It's a long story Tomoko but right now can we get some FOOD!" Naruto yelled at the man.

"Sure you've earned it kid," Tomoko said before grabbing the boy's shoulder and flickering.

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Now back in the training room where Naruto was blindfolded, Naruto and Shadow both had swirling eyes and were spinning around in the room. "Stop doing that would you?" Naruto yelled at Tomoko along with a bark from Shadow.

"Anything you say, kid." The man replied before they all walked up some stairs and into a large room that was almost exactly the same as the one in the Uzamaki compound back in the village. "Where are we?" Asked Naruto.

"Oh, we are in your room. This is the clan head's master bedroom. We haven't customized it since we haven't really spoken to you much." Tomoko answered before moving the conversation onwards into a short hallway. The trio walked into the hallway then into the living room where everyone from before was sitting. The woman from before jumped from her seat and ran to Naruto. "Master your back and you're perfectly fine!" She screamed while hugging him tightly. Shadow who was still sitting on Naruto's shoulder nipped at her hair causing her to break off.

"Hey is that a white fox?" she asked while Naruto nodded in agreement. "Does it have red eyes?" She added which was also nodded to. "Lucky you Naruto, you've found on of the last nature spirits in existence." She applauds him.

Naruto made a strange expression before fixing it. "What exactly do you mean by 'nature spirit'?" he asked her.

"Well a long time ago there were hundreds of spirits but none rivaled the animal spirit know as the white fox that was the highest level of nature spirit. Well, they share that title now with the toads since they took the place of the white fox. Until around a few hundred years ago they were cherished but the animals and the people turned on them and now they are thought to be extinct but hear you are with a baby spirit. How did you find it?" Her question stung like a spike had been stabbed through his heart and body.

"Well I...found him in a cave," he said strangely while rubbing the back of his head with his right arm. "Anyway me and Shadow are hungry where is the kitchen?" He said awkwardly.

"Oh, joy! I'm the chef of the family I'll cook you up something nice." She exclaimed before one of the men on the couch leaned over the edge and yelled. "Shinoko you know better! I'm sure after three days in the mountains he doesn't want anything burnt to eat. I'll get you something nice kid." The man yelled before standing from his seat.

"Shut up Shini you lair!" Shinoko yelled back at the man. He walked up to them all laughing. "Sorry about that kid my little sister is really crazy, but don't worry about it, you'll come to learn to handle her. Now come with me and let's get you something to eat and I'm assuming the fox is hungry also." The man said while placing a firm hand on Naruto's back.

Together they walked down and then into a massive room with pots, pans, and all the equipment you could ask for.

"Wow," Naruto said in awe as he checked the pantry.

"Amazing isn't it?" Shini said while he grabbed a large pan from under the giant stove and bar combo in the center of the room. "I'll make you the best steak you'll ever have Sir," Shini commented before the stove erupted in a small blue flame and he placed the pan over the fire.

"Whats with the sir and master crap? Why are you guys saying that to me just because I'm a Uzumaki?" Naruto questioned the man.

"Well kid a hundred years ago or so our clan the Shinitoris was in a clan war with multiple other clans but we didn't want to be and didn't take an active part in the war by the others all teamed up and came to the clan's head, Tomoko's grandfather. Your clan came and saved us by destroying the other clans. We tried to pay you but your clan declined and so as our way of saying thanks we guard and maintain the various training posts around the hidden villages." Shini explained.

"That's so cool!" Naruto said while staring at Shini. "You guys must really be thankful for you to stay here for two generations," he said.

"Yeah, we really loved our clan head and so we are showing our thanks even now. That's why we call you master and sir, and that's also why we really need you to restore your clan to its former glory." Shini said before lying a massive steak on the pan creating an uproar of sizzling sounds.

After they were finished with the meal Naruto and Shadow both lay on the kitchen floor stomachs full and happy.

"That was awesome Shini!" Naruto burped while leaning up at the man.

"I thank you Naruto," Shini responded. "Now it's getting late don't you two think you should get to sleep in a real bed tonight?" Shini asked and was given an amazingly dull response of 'eh' by Naruto.

"I prefer the feeling of a den now that I've experienced it. If the bed you have is anything like the one I woke up in four days ago I'd rather sleep in a den with Shadow any night." Naruto said while patting his stomach. After a minute or so he and Shadow got up and Naruto returned the animal to his neck. "So can you make that happen?" he poked at Shini who nodded with a strange look of what the f**k.

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"Okay, Naruto this should do right?" Shinoko asked the blond. They were standing in the middle of the facilities study that was reserved for the clan head. She with the help of Shini moved the desk and all the things to one side of the room leaving only the book shelves. "Yeah kid how's it look?" Shini added.

"It's great thanks, guys." Naruto applauded them before him and Shadow dived right in the massive den that Shinoko made with all the spare blankets she could find and the edges were built up using pillows. "Talk about a pillow fort," Shini commented before they all gave their good nights and the siblings left Naruto alone with Shadow in the dark study.

"Well buddy we don't have the stars to gaze at but at least we have something soft to sleep on." Naruto cheered before he spread his legs and arms out. Shadow curled into a ball next to him and the duo fell asleep.

"I swear you kit are all the same!" Kurama thought to himself before he joined in the slumber.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer- It's pretty obvious that I don't own Naruto so yeah...I don't own it.

AN: I am using something that if you read a lot of Naruto fan fictions you might have seen a dozen times so I can not credit the original but it was not my idea so whoever the hell first got credit… I think that's how this works at least.

Chapter 4-

Naruto rolled over in his enormous mountain of cloth as he stretched. "Ugh...I don't want to get up!" He moaned at the older gentlemen standing in the doorway way.

"Kid you've said that every day of the week so far. I don't care just get up Shini has something to show you in the back yard when you're done with breakfast." Tomoko responded angrily before he vanished into the hallway.

Naruto stood groggily and made his way to the door before he stopped. He slowly turned his body around to face the giant mound of blankets. "Come on shadow we have to get up now." He spoke to the pile. After a few seconds, a small little bubble popped up underneath on of the blankets and sped around in a large circle like a rat under a rug. It stopped then suddenly Shadow's face popped out along with his body from a small hole in the blanket. He barked at the blonde as he was lifted to his shoulders.

Naruto walked into the hallway and shut the door behind him. "I hope it's those three Jutsu I was promised. That old man lied to me. It's been a week since I got back and he still hasn't taught me crap. Plus every time I ask him he pushes it off by sending me to play with Shinoko." the child raged internally.

He started his morning routine by walking to the bathroom that was a few doors down. Once there he took a shower and washed Shadow who to the blonde's surprise really enjoyed the warm water, he would also brush his teeth. He did so in precaution knowing full well that Shinoko would kill him if he didn't. A shiver went down his back as he thought about what she would do to him.

After he finished his routine he made his way down to the kitchen which was on the other side of the compound. As he entered the room everyone greeted him. Shinoko slid a plate his way with a smile, and Shini along with the other nine men in his family gave their good mornings.

"How did you sleep last night?" Shinoko asked Naruto as he stabbed his eggs with his fork. She had made him a pancake with some eggs to the side.

"It was fine, I mean I stayed up reading one of the books from the shelf but other than a late start it was nice." He responded with food in his mouth.

"What did I tell you about talking with your mouth full!" She yelled while threatening the boy with a frying pan. "Either way, I'm glad you didn't have another nightmare." She said calmly while placing the pan back onto the stove.

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Flashback-

Shinoko was sleeping peacefully in her room in her large bed. She was having a peaceful dream when suddenly a loud bang came from the walls and woke her up. She looked around with a drowsy and confused face. She got up since she had to use the bathroom. When she was finished and in the hallway on her way back to her room she heard an even louder thump come from the other end of the hallway.

"What was that? Wait..That's Naruto's room!" She thought to herself before she took off towards the room. She stopped in front of the door and grabbed the handle and pulled but the door wouldn't budge. She tried her hardest in a few failed attempts to open the door as it still wouldn't move. She could feel a strong draft of wind flow from underneath the door. She gave it everything she had and infused her muscles with some chakra and managed to barely open the door. She couldn't move it anymore but she looked through the small crack she opened to see Naruto standing in the center of the room.

His eyes were still closed and his breathing was shallow. He was surrounded by a large aura of red chakra and she could hear the quiet howls of a fox. The howls were too deep to be Shadow's. She gasped at the child which alerted whatever was surrounding him. After she gasped the howling stopped and an immense pressure shot against the door blowing it open. Shadow came scurrying out of the door frame and out into the hallway where he disappeared.

She now stood standing in the door frame staring at the boy who had started to hover in the center of the room. His eyes slowly opened to meet hers. There were completely red and had an animal-like appearance. He started to smile and tears started to run down his cheeks.

"I promised...I promised..." He started to repeat in a quite a demonic tone before finally his body gave out and he fell to the ground. The aura surrounding him dispersed and his eyes twitched before reverting back to the normal blue. Shinoko quickly ran to the child and cradled him. "The Kyuubi" She whispered before laying him in her lap.

She was scared out of her mind but knew it was over and held the boy for the rest of the night.

The next morning he opened his eyes to see Shinoko asleep leaning over him. He was in her lap and she had passed out above him. "Shinoko? What are you doing in my ro...Are those tears?" He thought to himself before softly squirming his way free from her tight grasp.

He stood next to the woman with sadness in his eyes. He had already noticed the immense hole in the side of the room and the door that was bent inwards. "I'm sorry Shinoko." he whispered as he gently laid her sleeping body on her side and covered her up.

"My first night here and I'm already causing trouble." He said to himself before leaving the room to find Shini or Tomoko.

End

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"Hurry up kid! I've got something to show you when you finish." Shini said from across the bar to Naruto who was finishing off his pancake(BTW If you don't like pancakes we can't be friends. They are amazing).

Once Naruto finished his meal, he rubbed his belly as he, Shadow, and Shini entered the back yard training field. It was a large square area with a dirt floor. It was carved into the mountain so it was completely private from the outside would and had wards and seals that prevented any form of chakra to leave or enter the field unless accompanied by on of the Shinitoris.

When they made their way to the center of the field Naruto broke and finally asked, "So what is it Shini? Is it those three Jutsu I was promised?".

Shini laughed to himself a little before answering. "Yeah, I'm going to teach a few to you today but what I really want to do is give you something I made myself," Shini said the last part as he drew a decently sized sword from it sheathe on his back.

He bounced it in his hand a few times before swinging it and grabbing the blade, he held out the handle for Naruto to grab. "Here I made this while you were gone in the mountains," Shini said proudly as the blonde grabbed the handle. Once Shini let go of the blade Naruto felt it's full weight. His arm bobbed a little before he raised them back up, he smiled at the beautiful blade.

"It's nice and heavy and is really awesome looking Shini. Thank you!" Naruto said to the man who slightly blushed and scratched at his cheek.

"You think so eh!" He laughed. The blade was a gorgeous chrome and had two lines running through the center on each side that were a dull black. The hilt was special as it was a pure white leather with silver and black trimmings. The pummel was a Uzumaki family crest. "Give it a swing why don't you?" Shini added.

Naruto nodded as he grasped the one-handed hilt tighter with his right hand before slashing at the air. His body was still a child's and moved with the blade but he still stood firm when swinging. Shini nodded with a smile before stopping the child, she took the sheath from his back and fastened it to the kids. Naruto struggled a little but managed to place the sword in the container.

"Now you said you were promised three Jutsu from Tomoko, so let's go ahead and give them to you since it been a week since then," Shini smiled as he pulled a small scroll from his back pocket and channeled some chakra into it. After a second the smoke wafted away revealing three scrolls in his hands. "Here these are the three. But first, let's check your affinities." He said before giving the boy a small gray charm he had in his left hand.

Naruto was super excited to learn his affinity and grabbed the paper. He channeled in excitement as the charm revealed he had a wind, fire, and water affinity. His eyes gleamed at the paper as it became moist, and burned. "Are those good Shini?" He asked the man with a smile.

"Oh yeah, you have the perfect affinities to be a great ninja!" Shini said while throwing up a thumbs up.

"Here let me give you the scrolls." He added while handing them to the boy. "Now I've given you a good set of starting Jutsu. They are a fire style sword Jutsu, a water style defensive, and finally an earth style attack." Shini quoted before he taught Naruto all the hand signs since he was told that he didn't know anything other than the boar, snake, and rat.

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"Okay kid, that's enough Jutsu training. Now let's work on your sword skills and some muscle exercises." Shini yelled from the small little training camp he set up as Naruto practiced his Jutsu.

Naruto panted as he walked over. "Jeez Shini, I didn't think using this much chakra could be this tiring. He said while drawing his sword.

"Oh yeah, chakra exhaustion is quite tiresome but its fine that's why we use weapons not just Jutsu," Shini said while drawing his own sword. "Now I want you to come at me in full force so I know what your skills stand at." Shini said while walking out into the dirt field.

Naruto hesitated but thought that he would be fine since Shini would actually hurt him. Naruto dashed towards the man and when in range he slashed horizontally but was caught by Shini's long mate black sword. Naruto quickly went to attack again but was smashed in the hand by Shini's pummel before his sword was sent flying to the right.

"AARRGGHHH" Naruto screamed as he fell to his knees grabbing his right hand.

"Get up! Grab the sword, NOW! The enemy will not wait for you to get off the ground and stop crying!" He roared at the child in a fearsome voice.

Naruto's eyes went blank before he dashed insanely fast under Shini's sword and shoved his palm into the man's jaw before he slammed his elbow into his chest knocking him down on his back. Naruto then ran to his sword which he picked up and charged at Shini who barely made it up in time. "Naruto calm down!" Shini roared as he made a mighty sweep of his sword and sent the boy off his feet from blocking it.

Naruto fell back to normal as he landed on the ground and lost his composer. "W-What the hell? That's the second time this week." He complained while he panted.

Shini stared at the boy with an intense stare before his fingertips began to glow. He walked up to the boy and forcefully stabbed his hand into the boy's gut. The seal on Naruto's stomach became visible and Naruto coughed up some blood as a light began to shine from the seal. Naruto fell to the ground as the light formed into a tall blonde man wearing a white and red jacket and blue pants.

Ma-ma-master Minato..." Shini gasped as Naruto stood.

"Shini why," Naruto said before he was cut off by Shini who grabbed the boy's head and turned it towards Minato.

"T-the fourth Hokage" Naruto gasped before he bowed instantly.

"Stand Naruto. There is no need to pay respects to a dead man." Minato said with a smile as he laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Shini you've grown a lot in these past five years. How's Shinoko? She still hasn't burned the place down it seems." he joked at the man.

Shini laughed with the man before they turned their attention to Naruto.

"Sir, I was fighting Naruto in a friendly duel when his eyes went blank. He began to move much quicker and with more coordination and his fighting style..." Shini said before Minato cut him off.

"yes, Shini it was me. When I sealed the nine tails away I wanted to leave a piece of myself so that he would be protected at all times. It's my way of protecting my son even though I'm not here." He said to Shini.

Naruto frowned in as his brain went to work. "Wait… You said son does that mea.." Naruto yelled as the two men whispered to themselves.

Minato's eyes welled up as he looked at the child. "Yes Naruto, I am your father your mother was a beautiful woman named Kushina Uzumaki but she was too far gone for me to… either way, I have been watching over you, your entire life and I'm dreadfully sorry that I had to seal the Nine-tailed Kyuubi inside of you. I'm sorry that the vill..." He said before Naruto jumped forward and buried his face in the man's chest.

Minato stood with an astonished look on his face before it turned into a smile and he knelt down to hug his son. "Naruto I'm sorry but I must go soon. The seal has released me but that doesn't mean me and Kushina aren't always watching you. Make us proud son..." Minato whispered as he slowly faded into nothingness.

Naruto sat there with tears running down his face, his lip quivering. "I will dad. I promise for real this time." He whispered into the air. Shini looked at the kid and smiled.

"I knew you looked familiar." he laughed to himself. "Come on the kid the enemy won't stand around for you to stop crying!" Shini yelled while he threw Naruto's his sword.

Naruto caught the blade by the handle and made a confident face. The two started their long spar once more.

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An hour later Naruto and Shini stopped sparing as Shinoko came outside letting the boys know that lunch was ready. "Finally!" Naruto yelled with his stomach in agreement. Naruto ran to the house as Shini stood and watched the ball of excitement. "You don't ever get tired do you kid?" He laughed aloud.

As Naruto entered the building Shadow jumped into his chest knocking him back. Naruto patted the fox as he licked the boy's face. "Let's get something to eat Shadow!" Naruto told the fox as they both started to run down the hallway and into the kitchen.

'Hey, Shinoko! What's for lunch?" The kid asked happily as he sat down in one for the chairs surrounding the bar.

"Well I figured I'd make your favorite, so we are having some ramen today." She replied while placing a delicious bowl of steaming noodles down in front of him. The child cheered as he stabbed his chopsticks into the steaming pile of noodles.

"Aw, this is great! Awesome job Shinoko. Here you want some Shadow?" Naruto said with a massive smile as he let Shadow eat some noodles from his chopstick. The fox purred slightly as it ate. Naruto let out a laugh as he finished his noodles. Shinoko watched with a large smile as the boy enjoyed himself.

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"Come now you can do more than that, can't you?" Shini said to the kid who was face down in the dirt.

"Look if you stop after only a hundred how do you expect to overpower the enemy?" Shini said. Naruto placed his arms back into the push-up position and struggled as he lifted himself.

"101...102...103." He went as he slowly did his push-ups. Naruto was about to hit one hundred twenty-five when his arms couldn't take the burning sensation and he fell face first back into the dirt.

"Whatever, I'll let you slack now since it's your first day of training but don't get me wrong this won't happen often," Shini called out to the child buried in the soil. Naruto made a muffled sound before his face rose from the ground. He was doing more push ups.

"Determination? I admire it but you should stop kid you've already pushed your limits." Shini said to Naruto but was given the cold shoulder as Naruto pushed through the pain in his body. "Kid listen you've already done a few hundred pull ups, sit ups, I even made you run fifteenth miles. You need to calm down. What's left today can be made up tomorrow." Shini pleaded to the child before Naruto passed out and fell to the ground again.

Shini shook his head. "I told him he was trying too hard." He thought to himself as he launched the blonde onto his shoulder with one arm and grabbed the kid's sword with the other hand.

Shini entered the building and was instantly met with Shinoko screaming. "Naruto!" She screamed while punching her brother in the stomach. "You pushed him too far Shini!" She growled while taking the kid from him. She placed him on her back like a piggy back before storming off towards the study.

"He was the one who kept going! I tried to stop him." Shini yelled at her but waved her off since he knew she wasn't going to listen.

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Naruto made a few quiet grunts as he opened his eyes. When he finally realized his situation he found himself in his study. Shadow was curled up next to him and his head was sitting comfortably in Shinoko's lap. He leaned up and turned to her asleep, she had had her hand on his shoulder and the other on Shadow. "Crap, I probably made her worry." Naruto thought to himself. "Way to go champ!" He added before he lightly shook her awake.

"Wha-w? Oh, Naruto you're awake. How do you feel? You pushed yourself too hard today you know." She immediately blurted out causing Naruto to laugh aloud.

"I'm sorry I worried you. I got carried away when I thought about the promise I made. I made a promise and I want to accomplish it as soon as possible." He said with an arm behind his head. Shinoko eye twitched as her face entered a distressed look. "What! You just passed out from a stupid thing like that!" She growled as she clobbered him in the head. She got up waking Shadow in the process. She stood in the door way when she looked at the child. "I swear kids are so careless. Don't do it again or I'll give you a bruise to brag about." She threated before she disappeared into the dark hallway.

"Jeez! Guess she really is crazy?" He said towards Shadow who merely nodded before the two went to sleep.

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That morning at dawn Naruto was shook awake by Shini. "Come on kid we're burning daylight." Shini said to him as his eyes opened.

After a slow trip to the bathroom where Naruto did his routine half asleep he and Shini went to grab some early breakfast Shinoko made just for them.

"Okay let's start off with some Jutsu training. Show me what you learned yesterday." Shini said while facing the blonde in the back training field.

Naruto flashed through his hand signs before he melted into water, then formed his normal appearance. He went through all of the Jutsu he had gotten the day before until Shini said it was enough. They then did a few sword training spars then spent the rest of the day doing insane exercises like pull ups in a waterfall up the mountain, push ups with Shini sitting on his back polishing his sword. One particular exercise destroyed Naruto, it was a chakra training exercise where Shini placed a seal on his back that restricted the flow of chakra to the point it wasn't even noticeable. With the seal, he was forced to channel his chakra and perform a Jutsu that was designed to strengthen and build up all six affinities.

They continued day after day for the next month before Naruto was freed from his restraint. By then he was given another six Jutsu that completed his early cache of useful abilities. Naruto was now doing exercises a grown man could never dream of doing such as lifting a small iron weight onto his back and climbing the entire mountain on both sides every day. He also was forced to wear fifteen-pound weights on his ankles and wrist at all times.

Naruto also became very mature since his only company was full grown adults. He formed a father like a figure with Shini and a mother like relationship with Shinoko over the month he stayed there. They filled the void as things happened such as nightmares and things that a father and father should teach and do with their son. Shinoko also became Naruto's legal guardian when they went to the village for food and resources.

(I'm explaining it like this because I tried multiple times to write it in a way that would make sense but my inability to write my thoughts as I think them to words is kinda SH*T! Sorry but at least you won't have to read an annoying five paragraph story arch that shows how bad I am XD.).

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Naruto woke naturally at the crack of dawn, he and Shadow made their way down to the kitchen where Shinoko and Shini sat with smiles drawn on their faces. "What's with you two?" he asked the siblings. Only for them to laugh before Screaming 'Happy Birth Day' with everyone else in the house jumping out of the hiding spots.

Naruto hadn't celebrated his birthday with actual friends let alone at all so he just stood there with a stupefied expression. "Come on Naruto! Losen up kid you've earned it." Shini said while he placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. Everyone else started congratulating him personally before walking into the living room where they sat waiting. Shinoko and her brother along with Tomoko took out a large box from the pantry and placed it on the counter in front of Naruto.

"I hope you like it Naruto!" Shinoko said with a smile. Naruto looked at the beautifully wrapped box. It was wrapped in orange paper with streaks of red that had gold spots painted onto them, the ribbon was a large blue spiral of cloth. "We made it look like your outfit since it reminded us of you." She added before placing her hand on the free shoulder Naruto had.

As the blonde opened the box his eyes watered up but he held the tears back as he pulled from the box a large black jacket that came with long pants to match. Underneath the clothes was a mate black mask with eye holes drilled through it. It was beautifully crafted from the wood of an old oak tree. It had various details burned into the wood, the detail was awe inspiring. All that was left inside the box was a superior blade crafting and maintenance kit.

"I made the clothes myself," Shinoko commented.

"I made the mask from the tree you left your den next to in the mountains. It took a full day to find it but it was completely worth it for you kid." Tomoko added before Shini shook his shoulder.

"I wanted to give you something with a little more memory involved so I gave you my first sword kit. I got that kit from my father who in turn got it from his. Hope you like it, kid!" Shini joked as everyone laughed except Naruto.

Naruto sat there holding his new clothes before he couldn't hold it back. He started to cry and Shinoko did her best to calm him but he was too emotional. "Thank you guys so much." he managed to mumble from Shinoko's chest to the group.

"Stop crying, you runt. Aren't you five now right? Act it!" Kurama growled from his stomach. "I congratulate you on surviving this long, but you need to man up if you plan on becoming the strongest ninja ever to become Hokage." It added stopping the child's crying.

That night Naruto and his friends partied like none other. They ate an ungodly amount of cake after eating every one of Naruto's favorite foods, before playing way too many party games. For once Naruto was happy to have his birthday. Back in the village all the kids would gang up and beat him on his birthday. His birthday was close to the day of the nine tails attack and he contained the beast so the parent's malice intent rubbed off on the kids. Since he was seen as a monster no one cared or even believed him when he told people.

Later in the night Naruto was sitting in the bathroom with his new clothes on and his new mask. He looked at himself in the mirror in awe at how awesome he looked. The black jacket was open revealing a light gray shirt. His pants were perfect in length and showed the new sandals one of the other family members gave him. He remembered Shinoko saying that she had made an entire wardrobe of the clothes and he would get them at the end of the week. He also remembered Tomoko who said his room would be finished by the week's end.

Naruto noticed Shadow who was growing at an astonishing rate. He was half the size of the four-foot child. Shadow's tail was massive and it was more than enough to encompass the fur ball.

Naruto sat in his bed with Shadow asleep next to him with a smile on his face while playing the night over and over in his head. He did so until finally the darkness consumed him and he fell into sleep.

AN: Okay so long chapter I know. I plan on having a major time skip so if the next chapter seems a little strange at the beginning just go with it. If you do have trouble it should start making since early in the chapter so don't worry. Now like I said earlier I couldn't get the part about Shinoko and Shini as his kinda makeshift parents quite right so forgive me. I really tried for about two days, but other than that I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I thoroughly enjoyed writing it.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: So I've basically been out of things to write and was looking back at some things I've written as to see how they were doing. Well, I've decided to continue this after deleting that horrid fifth chapter. Enjoy and sorry for the wait!

Sunlight pierced the thin red curtains layering the room in a dark pink. Naruto's eyes slowly opened, his face towards the ground. He rose slowly and looked around his room, surrounding him was a thick mountainous pile of cushion. He looked curiously until finally the mountain erupted like a volcano, only instead of magma, Shadow emerged. His long sleek body flowing like white smoke in the air as he landed on the blond.

Naruto rolled over freeing himself from the animal's restraint, he stood and rushed into the hallway. "Remember Shadow first one there gets seconds" He yelled! Shadow in quick pursuit.

Barking and laughter rang throughout the room as Naruto slid into the kitchen, Shadow barely ahead of him. Shadow looked at the boy, his face took a smile like appearance as Shinoko leaned over to pet his chin. Naruto blew the animal off and took a seat at one of the bar stools that stood next to him.

"So what's for breakfast mom?" He said with excitement taking over his face. Shinoko looked at the blond, his large blue eyes accompanied with his long smile.

"Well, for starters I've made some simple eggs and rice. After you and Shadow scarf that down you're basically on your own." She said with a tired smile before placing a bowl in front of him and Shadow. "Another thing, Tomoko, and Shini have some new sword thing to show you." She added as she made her way to the living room that branched from the kitchen.

Easily two boy and his spirit consumed the rice and vanished out of the room. The new morning sun was faint and a brisk cold nipped at Naruto's face. He and Shadow continued walking for a few moments through what looked like a battlefield. Craters of various sizes and depths spread across that large dirt area.

Finally, after another few moments of movement, the duo stopped in front of a massive log. The large stunt of wood stood upright at fifteen feet high and had to be at least twenty wide. Naruto placed his hand against the outward facing bark and pulled himself on top of it to where the flesh of the wood was.

"I wonder what Shini has planned for this?" He said to Shadow, who had curled up next to a tree waiting for Shini and Tomoko. Naruto suddenly reached around and caught a long wooden sword by the blade, stopping it only an inch from his face. He flipped with his fingers and grabbed the hilt and formed a stance.

Shini and Tomoko came out from behind a tree and greeted the boy. "We'll have to work on that reflex time but I think you're ready for your final lesson," Shini said wiping his newly grown mustache.

Naruto mentally sighed at the sound of 'Last' but deep down in his mind he knew it was coming. Was almost twelve now and nearly a master in swordsmanship.

"What are we doing then?" Naruto asked impatiently.

Shini nodded towards the log that Naruto stood on. "Me and Tomoko cut that massive slab of wood and brought here. You will be cutting it in half with that sword." Shini laughed a little at Naruto's face.

"What! How am I supposed to cut this with this puny stick you call a sword?" Naruto exclaimed while jumping off the wood landing in front of Shini.

"Channel your chakra into your blade to strengthen it, then project it out like a wave of energy cutting the wood fibers," Tomoko answered the kid.

"Do what now?" Naruto said dumbfounded.

Shini took the sword from Naruto's hand and without hesitation sliced from where he was standing. The Wind rushed around the group and rustled in the trees, before a small sliver of wood slid off the top of the log.

Turning back to Naruto Shini handed him the sword and walked back towards the house. "Just try it, and by the way, I heard Shinoko is making you something special to eat when you finish your sword training so I wouldn't keep her waiting,"

Shini said.

Sighing Naruto turned back to his 'opponent'. "Man, I wonder what moms making me?" He thought to himself as he pulsed his chakra into the weapon. "Cury, stew… no that's too normal." He thought to himself as the weapon turned a faint red.

He paused and meditated. "Easy, a simple projecting. Think of it like enhancing a kunai or shuriken… just without the throwing or spinning." He thought before swiping the blade hard horizontally.

A thin red line of chakra left the blade and smashed against the wood. Naruto yelled in excitement and threw one arm up only to be shot down as he opened his eyes. His chakra had made contact but the thick fibers of the wood and the opposing grain were barely dug into.

The wood was burned and looked as though someone had taken sandpaper to it while it was on fire. "Okay, well surprise surprise that old wood negated Kurama's chakra. Guess I'll try my wind chakra." Naruto thought to himself as he channeled the specific element into his weapon.

The wind around the weapon formed into a large edge that stretched a few inches. Naruto marveled at the sword, the wind acted like an invisible edge that grew and morphed as he willed it to.

"Guess that chakra control training actually comes in handy," Naruto smiled inside. His arm flexed defining his muscles as he slashed, the air made contact with the wood not only slicing it in half but all the trees behind it. The force traveled for a few more meters crushing all the surrounding trees.

Naruto stared in awe, his mind racing with amazement at this. "How the hell did that just happen!" He said out loud as Shini came running from the house.

"Well done Naruto, though I'm astonished at how fast you learned how to do it." He said while grabbing the sword. "How did you do it?" He questioned.

"Well I tried my tailed-beast chakra but the wood absorbed it so then I tried my wind chakra," Naruto answered slowly still staring at the split log.

"Well, I guess it's safe to say that the past seven years of chakra training was worth the hardship." Shini pulled from his back and handed the teen a new sword, this one was hollow in the center and instead of two edges on each side it had no edges.

"This is a chakra sword our clan helped create for the Uzumaki clan." He said while Naruto took the hefty sword. "It has holes which help the use of chakra to enhance sword strikes. Basically, channel chakra and become unstoppable." Shini smiled with content. "You've come a long way and I'm sure you are more than capable of using the weapon."

Naruto hugged the man, his eyes watery but not crying. "I promise I'll make you proud." He said pulling the weapon from the sheath. The matte black blade had a polished metal beveled edge against the holes.

Naruto channeled some of Kurama's chakra into the sword and watched as red tinted air formed an intense edge. He lightly swirled the blade around his wrist and sliced a nearby tree in half.

"Awesome…" He whispered before sheathing the weapon and following Shini back inside. Once Naruto and Shadow made it inside Shinoko and Tomoko praised him, shinoko gave him a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek, Tomoko patted him on the shoulder which he rarely did.

Naruto overdone by the excitement was shut down when Shini finally told him.

Today is October 10th Naruto's twelfth birthday, meaning that today was finally the day that Naruto would go back to the village

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"Be careful, Never forget you can always come back here if you need us," Shinoko said with tears in her eyes. She and Naruto separated from their embrace. Turning to Shini Naruto hugged the rugged man.

"I won't forget you guys, you'll always be my family," Naruto said to them as he continued to hug Tomoko.

Stepping away from the trio Naruto lifted his backpack full of his things which thanks to Shinoko was surprisingly heavy. She had made him multiple outfits and gift over the eight years he stayed at the mountain. Shadow barked happily at the family before running after Naruto who slowly walked out of sight down the mountain path.

Several hours later Naruto finally found the gate to Konoha. He was lost for most of the trip thanks to his inability to navigate Shini's poorly written map. Only by Shadow's sense of smell did they find the village.

He was wearing a black mask that Tomoko gave. Naruto had remembered that the mask would mean he could walk the village without any suspension of where he had been or who he was.

Tomoko had made the mask styled after Kurama so it had gray whiskers painted onto it and matte black eyes that covered his own.

Naruto looked up at the tall stone gates, their heavy doors open wide revealing a kind scent of a peaceful village, the serene green roofs and the chatter of the busy place filled his ears.

Naruto walked slowly into the village, his mind flooded with memories of pranks and abuse. His mind raced with him until finally he aimlessly bumped into someone knocking them down on their feet.

Snapping out of his confusion Naruto quickly helped the person up and stopped once he realized who it was. Standing before him was Ino. Behind her was TenTen, Hinata, and Sakura. They all looked him over with anger curiosity.

"Sorry," Naruto said to Ino picking up the flower and pot that dropped and busted. Naruto bent down and lifted the pot and plant. Ino enraged slapped the boy as hard as she could.

"I better play along, Shini told me not to stand out." He thought to himself as he let the slap carry him to the ground. Still holding the pot and flower and stood.

"Sorry, is there anything I can do to make it up?" He said handing her the pot and flower.

"No, I was supposed to deliver that flower to Mrs. Alkaid, she wanted it for her new Ramen shop window sill.

Admiring the flower as he pictured it in Shinoko's window. "Ah ramen, that's where I can get something to eat. If you want I can buy you some since I shattered your delivery?" Naruto added as he turned away towards the large grand opening sign he had been oblivious to during his arrival.

"I came with friends so no thanks creep," Ino said as her and the others walked past in an upset fashion and into the building. Naruto followed shortly with Shadow in tow.

Naruto walked into a fresh shop, steam and fresh noodles smell filled the air. He approached the corner and asked for two large bowls of ramen. Before the woman finished ringing him up she saw Shadow.

"Get that animal out of my shop! What are you crazy bringing that thing in here?" She screamed. Naruto's expression turned dark under his mask.

"Sorry, may I have them to go? I'll eat outside." He said in return and the woman took his money. Naruto upon returning to the village was given access to the immense riches of the Uzumaki clan.

Soon after she took the money and vanished behind a curtain, the woman reappeared with two steaming bowls of ramen. Naruto grabbed each bowl and walked out the door.

Sitting down on the somewhat raised floor on the shop he placed Shadow's bowl next to him and stared at the spirit. "I'm sorry she yelled at you like that. Guess she doesn't like animals." Naruto said while stroking the spirit's back.

After eating the teen and his wolf made their way to the Uzumaki compound. Pushing his way back through the now smaller in comparison door into the compound Naruto let out a little chuckle knowing that tomorrow was his first day at the genin school.

Naruto watched as the sun sank over the horizon from the roof of the head building. As the night sky darkened he vanished into the shadows.

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Waking groggily from dazing off the Hokage returned to his menial paperwork. He stopped writing and looked up. "Who are you?" He said curious and ready for an attack.

Standing before the Hokage in front of the door which was closed was a figure dressed in black. Slowly the figure removed its black mask revealing Naruto.

"My lord! You aren't dead." The Hokage said in amazement. "Where have you been? Why didn't come back earlier?" He demanded answers.

"Simply put Hokage, I was at a clan facility and have returned as a ninja of the leaf. Do not fear I have the nine-tails under control so you can untwist your panties." Naruto said calmly placing his mask back on.

"I wanted to let you know I'm back, however I need you to help me with some identity problems…"

And so Naruto continued to answer certain questions and leave others unanswered while making demands for his return to stay secret.

(Although it has been roughly a year since I've been writing more dialogue, this was a struggle for because I don't want too much to be said on either account until later.)

AN: So I hope you enjoyed this revamp of this fanfiction and hopefully you plan on following this to completion. Some things are still in the works so if something doesn't make sense just wait until I release the next chapter to find out. Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

Leaning over the small wooden bridge that went over a central pond Naruto looked over his home. The brilliantly colored koi drifting slowly through the clear water, picking gently at the alge that's grown through the years.

With a calm sigh, Naruto stood from the hand rail and looked over at the crimson red sun rising in the sky. "Time for class I suppose. Hopefully, I get a good team." Naruto thought to himself as Shadow rubbed against the boy's waist. Patting the spirit's head Naruto gave his morning goodbye and left the compound.

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The class was simple and as usual as always. All the other kids would stare and admire Naruto, his mask hiding his face gave mystery and his muscular body showed his training and strength. His black clothes showed the Uzumaki clan symbol but none of the other kids knew what it was or what it stood for.

After role call, Iruka sensei stood in front of the class and started to call off the names of the teams. His call out continued until finally it came to Naruto. Everyone stared him down in anticipation.

"Team seven will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Ino Yamanaka," Iruka called out before starting the next team. Naruto looked around for his new comrades, his gaze met with Sasuke's. Sasuke scowled at him.

Naruto walked over the Sasuke with Ino in quick pursuit. "Well, it seems we're in a team together," Naruto said taking the seat next to Sasuke. He ignored Naruto, facing towards Iruka Sensei.

Ecstatic that she would be paired with Sasuke Ino came running up. She sat across from Naruto sandwiching Sasuke. Sasuke let out a sigh of distress when Ino started to speak.

Sasuke mad at his mistake of a team turned towards Naruto. "Heard you nearly flunked the exam? I can't believe they put me with a clown like you." He said with a fierce look. Naruto's face behind his calm and serene mask was twisted in annoyance. He had purposely failed most of the training and test as to protect his identity.

"You know Sasuke, I've heard that the Uzumaki and the Uchiha clan used to work together. It would seem history wants to repeat itself." Naruto said in an attempt to sound smart. Naruto knows full well the entire history of his clan and how they had operated with others.

"Well class, It's an honor to have taught you all during your genin training," Iruka said in a proud tone. "Now each of you will meet with your new team leaders today, come to me after class finishes for your teacher's name and what time to meet them."

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(I'm assuming you know enough to understand what happens between the meeting of Kakashi and where the teens must meet for their first day of training. So basically this is the morning where they met the day after meeting Kakashi.)

Bent over petting Shadow's fur softly Naruto waited patiently. He had been waiting there since the crack of dawn. Only now around seven thirty Sasuke came walking up to the large totem pole that stood on the farther corner of the field. He nodded towards Naruto but kept to himself.

Ino came shortly after him nearly out of breath, she had run from home in fear of being late. Kakashi was a no show leaving the trio alone in the training field.

Sasuke looked over Shadow from afar hiding his glance from Naruto. "You know, he doesn't bite," Naruto said standing and opening towards Sasuke.

"It doesn't matter. Where the hell is Kakashi Sensei?" Sasuke tried changing the subject. Ino had taken the open invitation and started to the pet the spirit.

"I've never seen a dog like him. What is he?" She asked standing up again.

"He's not a dog or a beast," Naruto said excitedly to tell his story. "He is a wood…" He was cut off but the sudden rustle of leaves. Out came from the bushes was Kakashi.

"Sorry I was late, I was a little caught up in my stories." He remarked while placing his trademark book back into his chest pocket.

"Alright well, your first lesson will be on teamwork. Now you see these two bells?" Kakashi commented while holding two shay bells in front of the group. "You all have three hours to get them from me, use all the means you have to get them...And if you fail you all will be demoted to genin in training." He added with a cheery smile before vanishing like a shadow.

Ino panicked and looked over to Sasuke who even though he was in panic gave no more than a scowl. Naruto, on the other hand, was standing straight with Shadow at the ready.

A strong sense of chakra flowed into his legs before Naruto jumped on a branch in the nearest tree. He quickly dissipated into the leaves as did Shadow in the brush near the base of the trees.

Sasuke started to run and jumped up a tree trunk and up into a tree before following Naruto. Ino still panicked ran hopelessly into the trees.

Kakashi sat crouched watching the team as they searched for him, he watched carefully on Sasuke since he was the assumed highest threat. He checked back on Naruto couldn't find him until a slight whisper was heard in his ear.

"Kakashi Sensei, you should try hiding better, you're making this easy." The voice lead on before ceasing. Kakashi whipped back to see nothing behind him.

"They want a challenge, I'll give them a challenge." Kakashi thought to himself as he launched from the trees landing next to Sasuke. He drew a kunai from his waist and charged the teen.

Sasuke was completely unprepared and watched as the man approached from the attack. Naruto came from nowhere blocking the attack with his sword which he had fastened to his back.

Kakashi's eyes twitched slightly as he read Naruto's stance before jumping a few feet back. Naruto's expressionless mask watched as his stance intensified.

The wind started to circulate around his sword and a slight breeze blew across the clearing.

Sasuke pushed Naruto out of the way and threw several Kunai before striking at Kakashi. Kakashi easily deflected the projectiles and countered the attack sending Sasuke flying.

Naruto took the distraction and stepped in close. He pressed his sword against Kakashi and pulsed his chakra sending the man sliding a few feet back.

Sasuke infuriated by Naruto's ability to show him up jumped into the air and released a fireball Jutsu. The massive fireball lobbed its way over to Kakashi who used a simple water dragon technique to dispel the flames.

Ino came running to the sound of combat from the trees. She panted before throwing her few shuriken at Kakashi which if not for his Sharingan he wouldn't have blocked each blade.

Shadow erupted from the shadows of the brush and tackled Kakashi knocking him off balance where Naruto and Sasuke dashed in. Kakashi flexed his chakra and switched places with a short stump of a log just in time to avoid a punch from each teen.

"That Uzumaki boy…." He thought to himself while taking a quick rest, pulling his book from his chest pocket.

"Get out of my way!" Sasuke yelled at Naruto. Naruto elegantly sheathed his sword and stepped in close to Sasuke.

"Listen here, and listen well, child. You are not the ninja you say you are. You will get nowhere unless you understand what it means to work together. I have multiple times over the strength and skill you have, however, I choose to work as a team in order to accomplish the mission." Naruto said with a dark tone.

Even though he had no eye slits in the mask Sasuke could feel a sinister stare behind the mask.

"Well if you're as good as you say you are show me!" Sasuke said in a fit. He punched at Naruto several times, however, Naruto easily stepped out of the way each time.

"No… You're no good like this," Naruto whispered in his ear before Sasuke felt a burning sensation in his gut. He slid back a few feet and grabbed his abdomen. Naruto quickly closed the gap and stabbed his chakra cloaked fingers in several pressure points.

Sasuke screamed out in pain and fell to his knees. He coughed several times before a little blood dripped from his eyes.

"You see Sasuke, as I hope you're aware of, your clan possesses a unique Kekkei Genkai. It has an overwhelming ability to read moves and is one of the Three Great Eyes." Naruto said watching the teen squirm in pain.

"Since you believe you are this great fighter, I'll give you your first stepping stone," Naruto said disappearing in a streak of black into the tree above.

Scratching at his eyes Sasuke roared out, the pain was unimaginable. He stood in rage, his vision was blurry and he couldn't focus on anything. Anything he looked at would spin and had doppelgangers.

Ino slowly approached in fear as Sasuke fell silent covering his eyes. When she reached out to him he slapped it away. Removing his hands revealed his eyes.

They were a bright red with thin black strips encasing three small droplets circling a black pupil. (I'm aware that's not exactly what it looked like and the things it's going to do are not cannon. I am changing some things I find overpowered or weak.)

He had seen Ino's movement through his hands. "Sasuke?" Ino squeaked with horror. His eyes were violently rotating looking all around them. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side as Kakashi's body landed.

"I've got to hand it to you Naruto, whoever trained you knew what they were doing," Kakashi said biding his time before summoning his three attack dogs. As the smoke from the seal entered the air it was immediately removed by an immense pulse of chakra.

Naruto had covered his arms with Kurama's chakra. "Well Sasuke, why don't you take you little toy for a spin?" He said smashing one of the dogs into the ground as Shadow took care of the others.

Sasuke roared out in pain and bolted towards Kakashi. Kakashi noticed his bloodied eyes and activated his own Sharingan. Sucking in a large amount of air and flashing through some hand signs Sasuke launched at Kakashi a large fireball.

Kakashi flexed his chakra and released an equal fireball before ducking under Ino's kick. Ino seemed really good at moving around the battlefield while Sasuke and Naruto took the spotlights.

"Boy! What happened to hiding to the fact you know how to use my chakra?" Kurama yelled from inside Naruto. Naruto's face blushed slightly underneath his mask as his arms faded to normal. "That was close if Kakashi's Sharingan would have looked at your arms he would have instantly known." He added before silencing himself.

"You know, I'm not going to lie to kids. I was planning on a simple training exercise but it appears you three are 'much' past this type of training." Kakashi said blocking Sasuke's taijutsu. "What I'd really like to know is how you unlocked Sasuke's Sharingan and where you learned to train like this?" Kakashi voice became more downbeat.

"Naruto ceased his combat stance as did Ino following his actions. Sasuke, however, was still in a literal blind rage. Naruto appeared instantly behind him and chopped his neck knocking the Uchiha unconscious.

Line Break-

Alone Kakashi and Naruto stood underneath a large tree and behind a fence hiding from Ino. Ino was checking on Sasuke, also cleaning his face from the blood that came from his eyes.

"How did you know he had the Sharingan and how did you unlock it?" Kakashi asked breaking the silence that held thick between the two ninjas.

"When I left the village eight years ago… Some people took me in, they trained me. They also taught me most of the history behind my clan and all those that had interactions with the Uzumakis." Naruto responded with a slight smile from his memories of Shinoko and Shini.

"They taught me nearly everything they knew about swordsmanship, Fuinjutsu (Seals and that sort of techniques), Kenjustu (sword technique), and a few medical ninjutsu techniques." Naruto listed but still kept the other half of Jutsu he knew secret from Kakashi and didn't dare to mention that he had control of his Jinchuriki powers.

"That still doesn't answer my question on how you unlocked his Sharingan," Kakashi commented.

"You see Tomo… one of the people that trained me was an acupuncture expert and taught the ways of chakra manipulation. Sasuke's current Sharingan is merely a forced exposure and should be weaker by comparison to a naturally unlocked Genkai." Naruto drew on before Kakashi stopped him.

"Why did you nearly flunk that academy and why didn't you come back to the village as soon as you could?" Kakashi had lost his control and was nearly shouting.

Naruto calmed him with a pulse of Kurama's chakra. An interesting technique he found out was a side effect of all the hatred stored inside Kurama. He then proceeds to explain the short conversation he had with the Hokage and how he couldn't have skipped out on his training so he could be the strongest clan head possible for the Uzumakis.

Finally, after a few more minutes of going back and forth, the two emerged from the shaded fence. Sasuke was now awake with Ino waiting not far from him.

"Ino, Sasuke I want both of you to listen closely when I say this. Keep what you saw here quiet, if I find out either one of you two said anything about what happened here today I will personally request your demotion from Genin." Kakashi said before stepping back so Naruto was in front.

Reaching out a hand he held it forwards toward Sasuke. Sasuke looked him down but instead of hate or annoyance he didn't know what the feeling was so he took the hand and the two ninjas shook that they would start working as a team before making the same pact with Ino.


	7. Chapter 7

"So, did he give it to you?" Kakashi asked shifting his eyes from his book to Naruto. Naruto was walking out of the Hokage's office with a thin green scroll.

"Yeah, our first A-Rank mission," Naruto said tossing it Kakashi. "It seems we're only to get escort missions, but this one seems good. Tanzuna a bridge maker needs us to escort him to the Land of Waves." He added as Kakashi looked the parchment over.

Exiting the building and out into the darkness of night, the two ninjas vanished.

Line Break-

"Again!" Naruto shouted to Ino. She was swinging a short wooden sword in a series of motions. Copying Naruto as he instructed.

"What do you mean again? We've been doing this for hours." She replied throwing her weapon on the ground.

"If you don't practice you sword will fail you when you need most," Naruto said. He had started training Ino while Kakashi, more experienced with the Sharingan, trained Sasuke.

"Although if you insist on changing, we can work on strengthening your chakra techniques. Now since you have a strong earth affinity we'll start with that." He said taking the sword and leaning it against a log where Shadow was lying.

Slowly showing Ino what hand signs to do, "Earth Style Great Demon Release!" Naruto evaporated into smoke. As the cloud wafted away it revealed Naruto standing in front of what seemed like a hundred wolves. Each carved from pure stone and poised for action.

Ceasing his flow of chakra they all dissipated and he looked over to Ino. She repeated the steps and pushed her chakra, however, she barely produced one wolf that stumbled a few feet before crumbling to dust.

"How am I supposed to be as strong as you and summon so many. I can barely summon one!" Ino exclaimed.

"The point isn't to become as strong as me, no it's to be the strongest YOU can be." He said before taking a rest against the log. "No keep going and once you can summon three fully functioning wolves you can go home for today."

Ino's expression dropped with distress. She hesitated but blew it off and continued to practice her Jutsu.

Off in the distance, Sasuke and Kakashi were practicing their own Jutsu.

"Lighting Style Great Cutter!" Roared Sasuke as he bolted across a clearing cutting trees down as he passed them.

"Good job, to think only three weeks after you unlocked you Sharingan and you can already use my lightning cutter." Kakashi joked.

"I still can't believe how powerful this technique is," Sasuke said quietly. Kakashi grabbed his shoulder and together they made their way through the trees into the Team 7 training field.

"Listen up, I and Naruto went and spoke to the Hokage. It wasn't easy but we finally got him to give us an A-Rank mission. Tomorrow morning we are to meet Tanzuna, a client that we will be transporting to the Land of Waves."

Sasuke looked over at Naruto that back at Kakashi. Ino felt slightly uneasy about the A-Rank title of the mission but looked back at Naruto.

"If anything happens you and Kakashi can handle it right?" She asked shyly to Naruto.

"Don't be scared. You being scared means you don't have faith in yourself, which means you don't have faith in the training me and Kakashi have been giving you." Naruto said standing, he was a little taller than her and placed on hand on her head.

"When I was younger my dad… My sensei told me that I would have to survive an entire two weeks out on the peak of a mountain. I told him I didn't feel ready and he told me that if you don't believe you're ready or that you can do it. You never will, and that you disrespect your sensei by wasting their time."

Ino just looked at the black matte mask for a moment before her mind was derailed.

"Alright, go home and get some rest. We can pick up on our training when we get back." Kakashi told the teens before they all dispersed back into the village.

Line Break-

AN: The mission is directly from the anime and manga however the events that will take place will be extremely different from how things happen naturally, obviously. There will be fights and Zabuza and Haku will still be there but the events will change.

Standing propped against one of the walls that surrounded the gates Naruto stood as Kakashi and the rest of Team 7 approached. Behind them was Tanzuna, an older man with wrinkled eyes and light gray hair.

"Don't you ever sleep?" Ino mocked Naruto as they came close enough to speak. She had her signature purple ninja outfit along with a wooden sword strapped diagonally on her back.

"Trust me I get enough sleep," Naruto said thinking back to good days where he time off from training and would sleep late into the day only to emerge from his room to get food from Shinoko. The thought of her made him sad but his mind refocused as he pulled from his waist a bag.

"Here, I took the liberty of creating some seals which I stored some Kunai and some bandages in." He said while handing everyone except Tanzuna a small metallic disc with a strange black seal inked onto it.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Ino applaud him as did Kakashi. Sasuke being the always unimpressed smiled slightly.

Soon after the short encounter the four headed out from the village.

Line Break-

It was near noon now as they walked through the thick forest. Naruto stood as the head, Kakashi the tail and Ino/ Sasuke the sides of a formation encasing the bridge builder.

Naruto was lost in thought as he walked, only being guided by Shadow. He slowly pieced together where he was and realized they weren't far from Konoha 7. "I'm going to rush ahead and scope it out." Naruto turned around and said.

He then whipped around and he and Shadow ran off before Kakashi could detest. Running as fast as he could Naruto made his way to the base of the long stairs that trailed down from the dojo. The memories of Shinoko and rest flooded his mind.

He thought of them every night for the past year. Finally, he came in view of the building. He stopped slowly and the face behind his mask dropped in astonished horror.

The walls were broken and glass surrounded the structure. Outside of it was three men. Shini stood in front of Tomoko and Shinoko, with his sword drawn. The man standing in front of his carried a large sword with a hole for aerodynamics in the blade. Next to him was a smaller man dressed in a floral kimono with a light porcelain mask.

Shini looked over to Naruto noticing his presence and smiled. He then charged the men. Instantly his chest was punctured with senbon before his whole body being slapped like a fly by the first's sword.

Dropping to his knees Naruto's mask fell off it's loosened straps. Tears crawled down his cheeks and his eyes were closed. He began to laugh as orange chakra consumed his body encasing him in a skin-tight chakra cloak. A large black spiral on his abdomen and orange pupils for eyes he stood.

A large arm forged of chakra grew from his shoulder and stopped next to his right hand where a small black orb appeared. No larger than a pebble the orb created a vortex of air around it.

"I'm tired of hiding who I am and who Kurama is." He whispered to himself as he flashed in front of the two men. The man in the kimono stepped in front of the other as Naruto calmly placed the ball against his side.

Instantly the man disappeared, from the outlook of the mountain everyone watched as a mile long trail was cut through the forest. Trees and dust are thrown upwards before finally a colossal explosion scared the forest like a miniature nuke.

"Interesting feeling… Never killed a human before." Naruto said to the final man, a chakra form of Kurama's face expanding from his body and chomped down on his arm ripping it off. Blood splattered on the ground and spewed from the man's arm.

"I would watch you die, and could do so happily. But since my mother is watching I'll let you live so you know never to come back here or anywhere near hidden leaf." Naruto said with a demonic voice echoing his.

Kurama's mouth erupted with fire cauterizing the wound shut before Naruto pulsed his chakra knocking the dramatized man unconscious. His body didn't fall like normal except Naruto sensed a strong anger in the man preventing his defeat.

"Don't make me kill you," Naruto said coldly, he was obviously out of mercy after the sound of Shinoko's crying reached his ears.

"You'll have to kill me, child!" The man yelled as he kicked Naruto in the head. Naruto wasn't phased, he didn't move even an inch.

"Allow me to break down to you the amount of trouble you've gotten yourself into." Naruto said releasing his chakra cloak. "I am Naruto Uzumaki, the clan head of the Uzumaki. I am the jinchuriki of Kurama the nine-tailed Kyubi. I am trained in all six natural affinities, master of wind and earth. And you just destroyed the place I grew up and attacked the man I consider my second father behind the fourth Hokage, not to mention the other two which I love deeply. You can't possibly understand the restraint I'm demonstrating to you." Naruto's face became dark and twisted as he spoke.

"If I wanted to right now I could easily destroy this entire mountain with you along with it. I could crush any obstacle you could possibly throw at me in order to kill you. No, I will say this one more time. GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Naruto drawing his sword pointing it upwards.

The dark red chakra of Kurama shined through the blade and shot like a beam of light straight through the sky pushing the clouds away like a storm. He struggled to move the weapon but swung it down slicing Zabuza in half before he completely evaporated. All the trees and mountains him vanished in an instant.

Naruto went expressionless before falling on his back, darkness shrouded his sight before he fell unconscious.

AN: Now before you all freak out on how powerful that last attack must have been, keep in mind he has had control over Kurama for nearly eight years, unlike the series. That attack was all of Kurama's power and not much of Naruto's, he was merely acting as a catalyst.

Kakashi and the others snapped up as the sky turned a bright red. Staring in awe Ino and Tanzuna asked what it was. Kakashi instantly knew it was the Kyuubi and told Ino to watch after Tanzuna as he and Sasuke went in search of it.

With her lack of Genkai and training, she would most likely get in the way and they couldn't simply leave Tanzuna unattended.

The two shinobi enhanced their muscles with chakra and quickly scaled the mountain. Once they reached the top the saw a wrecked dojo and searched it. Kakashi stepped around the corner with Sasuke in tow, when he saw Naruto his was in Shinoko's lap.

Shinoko had ran up to Naruto and cushioned him, she was crying hard. Tomoko stood next to her with a hand on her shoulder. Shini was lying next to them, however, his head was propped up on Shadow's bushy tail.

Kakashi slowly walked up with a confused look. "Hello…" He said quietly not to disturb them too much.

"Haven't you done enough?" Shinoko yelled at him, she grabbed a rock near her and threw it at Kakashi.

"We haven't done anything, we're with Naruto." He explained dodging the rock.

Shinoko leaned over Naruto and continued to cry.

Tomoko stepped away from her and walked up to Kakashi. "My name in Tomoko, this is the only place she's ever known. Please forgive her, she doesn't know what to think about what's just happened." He said with an open hand. Kakashi and Sasuke shook his hand before a slight bow.

"What is this place? And what happened to you and Naruto?" Sasuke cut in.

"This is Konoha 7, a secret, or was a secret training ground for the Uzumaki clan. Naruto came here when he was a young child and we've raised him into a strong clan head." Tomoko answered with a small smile at his memories.

"A man came here earlier, he said his name was Zabuza and with him a smaller boy named Haku. He demanded we let him in, so he could watch the road beneath the mountain. I'm assuming he was waiting for you guys." Tomoko said turning to the building.

"Shini, the man lying down, tried to defend the building from them after they tried killing us after we didn't let them in. He fought valiantly but I fear he won't make it through this time. He just doesn't bounce back like he used to." Tomoko said.

"I heard that!" Shini yelled holding an arm up in the air. Breaking the serious mood.

"What happened to Naruto?" Kakashi asked again with a little less emotion.

"I'm not sure how, but he showed up just when Shini was defeated. I'm not sure if Naruto has told you or if you know but he is the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. He lost control and killed the two men, he's lying there now because his body couldn't handle the strain of all that chakra he released using the tailed beast chakra." Tomoko explained as they walked back over to him.

"Sasuke go get Ino and Tanzuna, we'll stay here for the rest of the day," Kakashi said looking Naruto over. "We'll be here all night." He thought to himself using his Sharingan to read the residual chakra cloak on his body.

Line Break-


	8. Chapter 8

AN: So one of you readers, gave a review that asked what would happen if Haku was still alive, Thor94. So although I wasn't planning on letting him live I'm going to find somewhere in the store for him and he shall be alive.

Also, the last chapter was very cringy and I apologize for not going back and changing certain things.

Chapter 8-

Opening his eyes, Naruto saw the vast blue sky. He felt a jostling motion as the sky moved slowly by. He looked down and saw that he was riding piggy back style on Kakashi. He tapped the man's shoulder and immediately everyone converged on him.

Naruto was let down easy before Shinoko pushed herself to the front of the group lifting him with a hug. "How dare you do that to us!" She yelled at him with tears in her eyes.

"Where are we…" He said quietly, still exhausted from the attack.

"Well, Shinoko wouldn't leave your side so they came with us while we escort Tanzuna." Kakashi said. "No matter what happens the mission needs to be done. Since you were incapacitated I've been carrying you."

"Thank you, Kakashi-Sensei," Naruto said as Shinoko put him back down. "But still where are we?" He asked again looking through the dense fog that surrounded them.

"We're in the Land of Waves," Tanzuna answered the boy continuing on his path. Although he had grown respect for the boys talent he was more concerned with building the bridge that would unite the Land of Waves with the other nations.

Shini was surprisingly standing, though he was being propped up by Tomoko and his sister Shinoko. The group walked for nearly two hours before the were met with a large bridge, it was unfinished and had sudden drop offs thanks to the blindness that came with the fog.

"This should be far enough," Tanzuna said turning around to the group. Kakashi nodded and they parted ways. Everyone except Naruto and Kakashi walked away, the two shinobi looked strangely into the fog like they could sense something.

A little uneasy the rest turned around and waited for something to jump out of the fog. Tanzuna was near the middle of the unfinished bridge when a black figure appeared in fog.

Naruto watched as Kakashi blasted to Tanzuna and blocked three senbon with his kunai.

The fog was blown away as a massive ice dragon head came flying at him. Naruto's eyes widened as he appeared next to Kakashi. He channeled all the remaining strength he had in his right hand and punched the dragon. The snout crushed under the force and the ice shattered, before erupting in a mist of water. Naruto's arm snapped backward and he skidded across the rough concrete.

Haku came limping slowly from the fog, he had a psychotic laughter emanating from him. "You took the only thing I had in this world from me!" He said now visible.

His right leg from the knee down was missing and his face was badly bruised from the impact earlier. "If it wasn't for you, my master would still be here, he was my everything. He gave me purpose, so now I'll avenge his death!" Haku shouted as ice formed around his body.

A long trail of ice sprouted from him and ran fast along the ground grabbing Naruto's ankle and lifting him into the air. He was dragged hard into the bridge causing large amounts of dust to cloud the fog.

"I can't…" He whispered before vanishing into the fog as Haku slung him.

Haku laughed manically as he turned to Kakashi with tears in his eyes. A tall mirror appeared next to him and he hopped into to it, as he did a large dome encased Kakashi.

Sasuke and the rest looked on in horror. Shini was too weak to fight and Tomoko to old.

Shinoko may have taught Naruto in taijutsu but she couldn't compare to that. Ino looked down at the ground, her eyes were closed. She slowly pressed through the hand signs and channeled her chakra. Instantly several wolves formed from the hard stone of the bridge sprang to life. They each charged the dome and bashed their bodies against the ice.

They struggled to do so but they finally shattered on of the mirrors revealing Kakashi, he had senbon poking out from his body in every direction.

Haku flashed in front of him and spawned his own ice creatures, six hawks that shot from a stem of ice. The crashed into the stone cracking the wolves.

"Fire Style Great Fireball!" Sasuke yelled from overhead, he had taken the distraction and formed a colossal fireball. The ice melted somewhat but the heat caused Haku to cower on the ground.

Haku roared out as a hand of ice smacked Sasuke out of the air and into the ground. Haku then turned towards Ino and the others. He tossed some senbon but they were cut from the sky by a blue flash.

Haku blinked in confusion and when he opened his eyes, standing in front of the other was Kakashi. He had his kunai drawn, and the other hand had two fingers up next to his lips.

"Lightning Style: Great spear!" He said as his eye morphed into his Sharingan. The wind around him formed a slight vortex. His hand turned a bright white, as he channeled chakra into it. He bolted forward.

Haku launched two more dragons at him. "Not again, I won't let you!" He screamed.

Kakashi gracefully spun slicing the first dragon in half turning it back into the water. He then punched through the second shattering it completely. He kept moving unlike before, he pulled his lightning in close. Haku went limp. "I'm sorry Zabuza." He said accepting his fate.

He waited for a moment before opening his eyes. Naruto stood directly in front of him. He stood in front of Kakashi, taking the lightning spear to his abdomen. Kakashi gasped slightly and his eyes widened at Naruto. Shinoko nearly fainted and fell into Ino's arms.

Naruto seemingly unphased by the pain looked Haku in the eyes.

"Believe it or not, I understand what you're going through. You think you're the only one who's ever lost, someone. He was a shinobi meaning he knew he could die at any moment if you truly want to avenge him do it by being the best ninja you can be." Naruto with anger.

"I lost both of my parents and have a permanent reminder that lives inside of me. Sasuke lost his clan to his brother and Kakashi has lost many comrades in fights. You can cry and morn all you want but if you sit here and do nothing with you self you're doing nothing more than spitting on Zabuza's memory." Naruto added before punching Haku to the ground.

Haku looked dazed and formed a crystal mirror which he crawled into and vanished.

Naruto looked up at the sky. He fell back, unconscious into Kakashi's arms. Shinoko and the other ran up to him and Kakashi, Sasuke had already started limping towards them.

Tanzuna had fled the scene as soon as the original ice dragon showed up.

Line Break-

Three days later:

"So you were serious about staying here?" Naruto asked Shinoko as she cooked breakfast. Since they returned from that A-Ranked mission the Shinitoris were staying with Naruto at the Uzumaki compound. Naruto asked her roughly but they both were loving the fact that they were all living under the same roof again.

Naruto's abdomen was covered in white bandages with small specks of blood seeping through. His arm was bandaged similarly although, it was nothing more than sprained.

"Well, anyways Kakashi said today would be our first training day after we came back so I'm about to head out. Will you watch Shadow for me?" His question was rhetorical as he ran out the door.

Entering training ground Naruto saw Kakashi talking with Ino and Sasuke lying on a branch with his arms behind his head. Naruto wasn't dressed like normal. He wasn't wearing the black Uzumaki uniform Shinoko made him, and now that Kakashi and the others saw his face there was no point to wearing his mask Tomoko had made for him.

He was wearing a standard issue uniform similar to Kakashi although his was tweaked a little by Shinoko so it resembled more Uzumaki than Leaf. She replaced the insignias with that of the clan's Spiral.

"Good morning," Ino said turning to his approach. Her face was heavy with thought before fading slightly.

"Good morning," Naruto said ecstatically, since the return of Shinitoris he's always happy.

Turning to Kakashi, he bowed slightly before greeting him the same as Ino.

Sasuke looked over at the tree when he heard all the commotion and dropped down next to Kakashi. "Morning." His newfound respect for how strong Naruto and Kakashi are, made him realize that he needed to respect them to learn from them.

"Ah, just the ninja I wanted to see. Having the Shinitoris living in the Uzumaki compound has made it much more lively. And from what I've picked up talking with you. You live alone in the Uchiha compound, don't you?" He said getting closer to Sasuke.

"If you feel like you could use some social time or somewhere warmer to stay feel free to drop by the Uzumaki compound. I already had Tomoko set a room up for you two as well if you ever feel like taking a small vacation." He said looking back to Ino and Kakashi.

"Since I came back almost a year ago, I've been doing massive renovations to the ponds and the hot springs that sit in the back corner of the compound." He smiled and closed his eyes.

Kakashi laughed and placed a hand on the preteen. "You know after that last mission. I think I'll take you up on that offer,however, for now, we're going to be doing so strength training."

"To make sure it's your pure muscle strength I want you all to wear a chakra draining seal tag on your back," Kakashi said slapping all three genins on the neck in an instant.

Ino instantly felt weaker and Sasuke's Sharingan faded. Naruto's, however, caught a flame and burned off.

Ino looked at it, jaw dropped. "Sorry, Kakashi Sensei, my control of the Kyuubi's chakra is still weak after the incident at the mountain. So when my chakra starts draining it fills in the rest and then some." Naruto said with an awkward smile.

"It's fine, you already had a chakra pool nearly four times mine to begin with so that tag was mostly for show for you. Since you don't have a tag you'll be doing chakra control to help control the Kyuubi." Kakashi said, his mind trembled at the thought of it being released again.

Line Break-

Holding a small balloon of water Naruto watched as Kakashi formed a small Rasengan in his hand. "This technique was made famous by the fourth Hokage, it's called the Rasengan . It requires great chakra control to create and maintain." Kakashi then instructed him on how to practice the Rasengan.

For hours, Naruto sat cross-legged holding his arm straight out practicing the technique. He had broken several balloons before finally he created a palm-sized orb in his hand. He stood slowly, Ino and Sasuke watched to see what special Jutsu Kakashi taught him. They had already finished their muscle training for the day.

Naruto walked calmly to the biggest tree he could find and once he found it he closed his eyes.

He channeled more chakra into the ball causing it rapidly expand, once he finished it went from a baseball to three times his size.

He struggled to maintain the control, but eventually he regained equilibrium. He then flexed his muscles and grabbed it with the other hand. The ball condensed wildly into its original size. His veins bulged as he pushed the heavy orb forward against the thick tree. The wood cracked before suddenly the ball fired off destroying a five-meter wide line in front of him for several meters.

Naruto fell back and looked up at the sky. "There's no way I'll be using that anytime soon." He thought jumping back to a cross-legged position where he created a standard Rasengan. He tossed it up a few inches from his hand and caught it with his other.

Curious about what would happen he tossed the ball like a shuriken at a close by tree. Almost to the target the ball disintegrated. Naruto looked at his hand. "Wow dad, you created this technique and the Flying Raijin...I swear to you I will master them both." He whispered softly before Ino lifted him up.

She had run up from behind him and hugged him, lifting his a few inches in the air. "Wow you've only been training for four hours and you can already do that!" She said with admiration in her eyes. Sasuke came walking up to them.

"Please, I can barely create a single Rasengan and use it close up, that large one was mostly luck with a hint of Namikaze skill." He joked. Ino and Sasuke looked at him strangely.

"What do you mean Namikaze skill?" Ino asked him. "Do you mean like the Fourth Hokage?" She added.

Naruto had that, 'I've done goofed' face. "Ugh well, I guess since I trust you guys. Don't tell anybody but the Fourth Hokage is my dad, he and my mother died when they saved the village from the Kyuubi which is sealed inside of me. At first, I only had half of the Kyuubi, but when I was ten or so his spirit gave the rest to me in a dream. It was only after I had fully mastered the chakra cloak."

Ino and Sasuke were dazed in awe.

"I used to be so good I could summon Kurama outside my body and he could do things independently. But recently after leaving the mountain I haven't been able to always control it. Like when I walked up on Zabuza killing Shini." He said with a dull expression.

Sasuke leaned forwards, bowing to him. "Naruto Uzumaki, this pains me to say. Will you take me on as your pupil?"

Naruto blushed slightly. "I uh…"

"Hey, he's my sensei first and foremost!" Ino yelled at the Uchiha.

"Sasuke, I'm not much older than you, are you sure you want me to be your sensei and not Kakashi? He has a Sharingan and can train you to use it." Naruto said holding hands up to them.

"Kakashi is a strong ninja, I'll give him that. you , however, haven't peaked and can show me so much more. I need to get stronger and I need you to do so." Sasuke repeated.

Finally breaking down Naruto let out a sigh. "What could I really teach you? You saw what happened at the bridge. I'm not as strong as you give me credit for." He answered rubbing the back of his head.

After a moment of thought, Naruto's mind sparked with an idea. "I'll tell you what, from now on me and you are rivals. The day you can best Ino in a spar I'll take you in as a pupil." Naruto said placing a fist in his palm.

Sasuke agreed and Ino got more nervous, the thought of losing her teacher made her scared. She would never be on their level if they trained with each other. She looked at Naruto with curiosity knowing he had some kind of plan.

AN: Now if you think it's strange that Haku lived...like I said, someone wrote a review that they wanted Haku to live. And since what I had planned wasn't going to make much sense until later in the story. Hopefully, next chapter makes more sense when the 'Uzumaki from the first chapter shows up again.


	9. Chapter 9

Ino with a grunt pressed her sword against Sasuke's kunai. She pushed her weight into it sending the teen to the ground. He erupted into a spinning tornado of kicks and punches which Ino struggled to dodge. Ino almost made it out of the attack but was caught by a finishing three kicks sending her flying back.

She tightened her grip on her sword, which was Naruto's chakra blade. He had let her borrow it because it would help her against Sasuke's faster movements.

She blasted from the ground and smashed the teen in the jaw causing him to stumble before she summoned sand wolves that grabbed his arms.

She screamed as she jumped forward, she drew the pummel of the sword in close before crushing it against his chest knocking him down. He continued to roll several feet before sliding to a stop on his knees where he flashed through hand signs.

He charged her with a lightning cutter. Ino remembered watching Naruto and channeled her chakra into the blade. The blade's edge turned a quaint blue as she charged back at the boy.

Their blades met and they slid past each other in freeze frame. Silent Naruto and Kakashi watched. Sasuke coughed as his body erupted in lightning. Ino's water release came through the blade causing his lightning to disperse in his body shocking him like a taser.

"Looks like Ino won this one," Kakashi said leaning over to Naruto.

Naruto with a big smile approached her. He grabbed her hand and held it above her head. "And the crowd goes wild." He shouted as they laughed. Sasuke slowly rose from the ground brushing himself off.

"I knew you could do it," Naruto said to Ino as she handed him the sword. She blushed at his praise slightly. She went to say something but he had already turned around and started talking to Sasuke.

"That was a good fight. Nice job on that combo after the disarm." He said to Sasuke causing his sour face to lighten somewhat.

Looking up at the now golden sky, Naruto jumped away from the group and turned to face them. "Shinoko is cooking a feast in the name of Team 7 and how far we've come. So if you want to stop by the compound later tonight, you're all invited." He smiled before vanishing in the trees. Shadow rose and stretched before running after him.

Ino and Sasuke looked at Kakashi without hesitation. "Well, I could use a free meal. You kids earned it." He said looking to the side. All three ninja dispersed after agreeing unanimously.

Line Break-

The three ninja stood in front of a large set of double doors. They looked at it with curiosity since it was truly the first time they've ever seen the compound in detail. Kakashi who was dressed in a somewhat more leisure form of his normal attire stepped forward and pressed the heavy doors open.

On the other side, they were met with a large green garden full of beautiful plants of all kinds, flowers from other villages and tall posts holding small lanterns giving it a pleasant vibe. A stone path lead them across the small field and over a bridge that had underneath it a shallow pond of crystal clear water, in it were three massive koi.

The tall buildings towered over them as they walked the compounds. Finally after walking for several minutes, Shadow approached them and rubbed his bushy tail against Ino scaring her. She let out a short shriek. Hearing the cry Shini came from one of the closer buildings.

"Ah! You guys must be lost, here follow me." He said waving them inside the building. Once inside they all followed behind the man for a few minutes before they could smell delicious cooking. They finally entered the main hall where Naruto sat propped against Shadow on the floor, the two were asleep. Shinoko was cooking and Tomoko was drinking tea while staring out the window at the garden.

"Oh! Welcome, everyone please make yourselves comfortable. Sasuke looked around the room and stopped when he saw a picture of his mother on the far wall. His expression fell as he walked towards it.

"So I assuming what Naruto told me was true about the Uchiha clan. What a shame, they were truly astonishing." Shinoko said walking up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Would you like to keep that photo? She looks a lot like you."

"That's because she was my mother...who is that red haired woman next to her?" He asked taking the frame off the wall.

"That's Naruto's mother, Kushina," Shinoko added before heading back to the kitchen. Sasuke fell silent and stared at Naruto as he slept against the spirit.

Ino made her way over to the nearby couch and sat down next to Shini and Tomoko.

"So I heard Naruto is teaching you to use a sword," Shini said eyeing the girl down. His eyes locked with her's, judging her.

"Yes, so far we've only covered the basics. I need to learn more though if I'm ever to be as strong as him and Sasuke." Her voice rang with determination.

"Eh, I wouldn't rush things, kid. It took that knucklehead almost eight years to master his technique and he still isn't a master of the sword. Give it time and I'm sure you'll be strong like him, just remember everyone starts somewhere." Shini said lifting himself from the cushion.

He grabbed Naruto by the ankle and lifted him upside down. In a blind stir, he spazzed awake. "Come on Shini just a little more." He begged.

"Your friends are here," Shini said dropping him on his head. Shinoko stared her brother down and everyone in the room could feel her intent before she went back to cooking.

Naruto flashed up and turned towards Kakashi who was leaning against one of the doorways.

"Thank you for coming Sensei." He greeted before greeting Ino and Sasuke.

"Mom how much longer until the feast is ready?" He asked Shinoko.

"Almost ready, will you set the plates?" She answered.

Naruto walked to the counter and placed the stack plates evenly on the knee high table in the center of the room. "Hey Ino, Sasuke follow me." He said stepping outside the room. The two teens followed with curiosity.

After a few moments, they stood outside in front of a shed. This where I store my sword, you should see Shini's." He said opening the door and pulling from the room a long single edged blade. It resembled a katana and had a strange pulsating feeling along the blade.

"He told me one day when I truly master the western sword style I can learn to use the katana. He says it has something to do with mastery and culture but all I know is that this is one awesome sword." He said admiring the weapon before holding it out for Sasuke and Ino to inspect.

The teens sat down and Naruto began to talk about the wonderful stories he had while he was at Konoha 7. Sasuke was even intrigued and followed along with the stories and Ino was more than ecstatic to hear about how he mastered the chakra cloak version 1 and how he learned to master wind and earth techniques.

It had been nearly an hour before they finally started to head back to the feast. Once they entered the room, the Shinitoris cheered the team on and brought out a cake for them. The all ate and joked wildly and finished the meal off with the cake Shinoko made for them.

As the night drew on the group sat outside by a large fire pit on the southern side of the compound. Shini and Kakashi talked with each other and Tomoko talked with Sasuke and Naruto leaving Ino alone.

She sat staring at the fire with thoughts in her eyes until Shinoko got her attention. "I'm sorry you feel this way, I can tell by the way you look at him. You know it's funny once you think about it. He may not be as strong as you think but his determination is what gives him strength, that's what gives you strength." Shioko said handing her a warm cup of tea. The cool night air was brisk against their skin.

They all sat in the light until Naruto and Shini stood. Behind them in the shadows came three figures in black with red eyes on their chest.

"Who are you?" Shini demanded reaching for the small blade he carried on the back of his waist.

As they continued forward, Naruto recognized the center figure. It was the lady from the orphanage so long ago. Her crimson hair shined orange in the fire.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked bewildered.

"You've done well to cultivate the Kyuubi's chakra. Now it is time to bring it home." She said as the two other figures bolted forward. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and countered one of the figures before Naruto took to other.

The red haired woman charged Naruto while he fought off the still black figure. Shini slammed his shoulder into her knocking her back before grabbing her arm. He bent it behind her and pushed his blade against her throat.

"Explain yourself!" He shouted to her.

"Very well, if you wish to make this difficult." She sighed before Shini was sent flying overhead into the fire. Naruto smashed his fist sending the figure flying before rushing over to help him out of the fire.

When he touched his body chakra threads grabbed hold of him. His body was flown back and stretched into a T-pose next to the woman. He fingers moving like spider legs. She froze one hand the fingertips channeled chakra, she placed her hand on his stomach.

A circular black seal appeared. Kakashi dashed in and cut the threads with his Kunai causing Naruto to drop to his feet. Kakashi was tackled by two more black figures. In a twirl, they were both sent flying and Kakashi regained his footing.

The four ninja stood staring at the four figures and the woman. "I thought you were an Uzumaki?" Naruto shouted to her. She laughed into his hand.

"You truly believe fate was fortunate to give you that scroll. I lied so as to get you to train and learn to awaken the Kyuubi. My master needs the beast and I plan on delivering you to him." She answered.

The four figure exploded into thick clouds of smoke before she reached inside her long white kimono. She pulled from it a specially marked kunai and tossed it towards them. The knife flew straight at Naruto before it split into several hundred kunai.

Shini although a little drunk easily blocked the blades with his own. Kakashi used his Kamui to transport himself and the others away, leaving Naruto, Sasuke, and Shini. Naruto used his special claw jutsu to strengthen his arms allowing him to swat the kunai from the air. He looked over to Sasuke and saw his speed couldn't keep up.

Although he had a Sharingan he didn't have the physical ability to keep up with it. Naruto launched himself towards him and blocked the kunai. When the attack finally ended Naruto fell to his knees. Sasuke watched in horror.

Naruto had nearly a dozen knives sticking out of his chest and stomach. All of Sasuke's dreams of training and defeating his brother washed out of him. He dropped to one knee and lifting Naruto's body. He lifted his head and looked him in the face. Naruto's breath was slow and stopped as their eyes met.

Sasuke dropped his body and stood. His head faced the ground and his body was limp in the arms. Red markings stretched over his face, slowly forcing his skin to turn a dull gray. He looked up to the woman, his eyes bleeding. The Sharingan had formed a second tomoe across from the first.

He stepped forwards. The woman stared deeply into his eyes. She fell to his Sharingan, he had fully matured into a Mangekyo Sharingan. The loss of his chance to obtain the power to kill his brother was taken from him causing the Genkai to mature so fast.

From everyone's perspective, they were just staring at each other face to face, however, from their perspective, she was in a Genjutsu of a thousand torments. Her body was locked in place by an immense spear, she experienced the pain of hundreds of torturers in a second.

Sasuke now feeling his chakra let it out in the form of a black flame. Her inanimate body was caught with this black flame. It spiraled her body and consumed her flesh. Only when his chakra ran out was she freed from the Genkai. Sasuke now out of chakra feels to the ground. She, on the other hand, screamed in pain from the fire. Everyone watched in disgust as she collapsed into a pile of flesh and ash before the flames ceased.

AN: Short chapter I know, but it was just there to show what the next major events would be about and to give Sasuke his trump card against Naruto so they stay somewhat rivals like in the series.


	10. Chapter 10

Sasuke looked in the mirror. He studied his Mangekyo Sharingan in the mirror. He was standing in a small hospital bathroom. After staring some more he finally walking out of the room and into the long corridor. He passed several doors before entering room 107.

Naruto was in the bed, he was unconscious. The Shinitoris huddled around him, Ino sat in the back holding the wooden sword she was given by him the day he said he'd train her. She held on so tight the wood was slowly indenting.

Kakashi was the only one who wasn't there. He had said he was going to inform the Hokage about the event last night, but he didn't come back.

Sasuke made his way over to Ino and sat down next to her. He placed an arm on around her shoulder. "Come Ino. Do you really think he would get up and abandon us like this? It'll take more than that to kill that dunce." Sasuke said hiding the worry in his voice.

Naruto was in critical condition from the Kunai, they had severed an artery and punctured his lungs. If not for Shinoko and Tomoko he would have bled out in the compound.

Ino started to cry but remained silent, everyone in the room remained silent. Breaking the silence the door opened. In walked Kakashi and the Hokage. Two Anbu could be seen on the other side of the door as it closed.

"I see…" The third said. "You must be the Shinitoris?" He added changing his train of thought.

Shini stepped up from the bed and got closer. Nearly whispering now they continued introductions. "My sister Shinoko, and the old man is Tomoko."

"I thank you for raising my grandson the way you did. He speaks highly of you three and has told me a number of loving stories." The third responded. "I'm going to leave two Anbu with all of you at all times. I'm also going to talk to the Hospital and tell them to release Naruto, he may not be awake but we can send the best doctors to your compound. It's safer there." He added before bowing to Shini.

Once the Hokage left the room Kakashi was grabbed by the collar and pulled into Shini. "What does he mean to release him to be more safe and sound?" His voice no longer a whisper causing everyone in the room to look at him. He looked back at them with red cheeks before clearing his throat.

"The Hokage is right. This about how many people enter this building a day and if they attack again how much more would die in this hospital." Kakashi assured him as the grip was released.

Ino stood and filled Shini's place beside Naruto, where she leaned over and hugged his waist. "I'm sorry…" She repeated a few times before standing and leaving the room.

Sasuke walked up to Shinoko, he whispered something in her ear then left the room with Kakashi not far behind.

Line Break:

Sitting cross-legged in front of Kurama, Naruto's eyes opened. He was sitting a few inches off the ground, which was bronze colored with water covering it. The gate that acted as the seal was open like normal though it was chipped on one hinge, which Naruto noticed as he looked at it.

"Kurama, It's been a long while since I've been in here. Has that gate always been like that?" He asked looking the Kyuubi in the eyes.

"That boy is from when you lost control at Konoha 7," Kurama said with a grumpy tone.

He brought one his tails up close to Naruto and lifted the boy to the hinge. "You losing control weakens the seal. We both know that if I'm released… We don't want a repeat... So stop it you, runt!" Kurama yelled.

Naruto snapped up, his breathing was heavy and the heart monitor next to him was beeping like crazy. He wiped sweat from his forehead before ripping the iv and other instruments from his body.

He stood and walked out of the room. He looked crazy and dumbfounded as he stumbled through the Compound. He finally made it to the center building. He saw the Shinitoris looking frightened at him and two masked men standing in front of him with their arms out.

"Ah! You're awake!" Shinoko shouted hugging him, she lifted him into the air. The Abu nodded to Tomoko in the distance and vanished through the window.

"Mom, I'm fine. Where is everyone else?" He said to her.

"Shini went to the market to people watch. He wants to see if he can see anyone with the same symbol as the girl from the other night. Ino hasn't left her home since you came home two days ago." Shinoko answered him.

"I'll go visit her to let her know that everyone's alright," Naruto said. "Now that I'm awake...What's for lunch?" He smiled to Shinoko.

She laughed and walked to the kitchen. "I'll make your favorite."

"Awesome!" He said sitting at the bar. He watched her cook with excitement. Tomoko and them all ate and laughed.

Line Break:

At the Yamanaka house-

Naruto stood nervously, it was the first time he had been to her house since he came back to the village. While he stood staring at the door two girls came walking up to him.

"Hey creep, you going to stare all day?" Sakura said to him. He wore wasn't wearing his mask anymore so now for the first time they saw his face. Sakura was slightly red when she realized it was Naruto, Hinata was behind her with some flowers.

"I came here to see Ino." He told them.

"So did we, you really shook her up this time. She hasn't said anything or left the house for days now." Sakura responded walking up to the door. She waved to him. "Come on."

Naruto looked over Hinata as she walked past him. "Stop!" He shouted at her scaring Hinata. She dropped the flowers and they both stared at him.

"I'm sorry… You have a Byakugan right?" He said to her. Hinata nodded slowly with confusion. "I need you to scan my chakra points, we can do it later. I just need you to do it." He said with a worried tone. Hinata agreed hesitantly before they all entered the home.

Ino's parents greeted them all as they entered. Naruto, however, was given extra greetings and Ino's parents thanked him for being her sensei saying she has grown so much since he started teaching her. Naruto was red with embarrassment but kept his cool, thanking the family.

The trio made their way upstairs and stood outside her room door. Knocking on it Sakura called out to her. Nothing. Hinata tried talking to her but still nothing.

Naruto stepped forward and grabbed the doorknob. He twisted it breaking the lock and walked into the room. Ino was lying face down on her pillow, she looked up in a surprised fashion. When she saw Naruto she rolled off her bed and grabbed him in a hug.

"Everythings fine Ino, my lungs have already recovered." He said while she still hung on tight. He turned around to the other girls with a struggled face.

"What do I do?" He whispered to Sakura. Sakura laughed at him, she turned around and took Hinata with her out of the room. She closed the door.

"Why me…" Naruto thought to himself before grabbing her shoulders. "Ino what's wrong?" he asked her with a serious face.

"When you went down Sasuke gained a new version of his Sharingan… How am I supposed to fight him now? I'll lose you then you two will continue to leave me in the dust." She started to cry softly.

"Why is everyone crying all the damn time?" Kurama roared inside of Naruto, luckily he was the only one who could hear it.

"What do you mean to leave you behind?" Naruto said to her.

"Sasuke has the Sharingan and is so strong, I could barely beat him before, but now he has the new Sharingan. And you… You're so strong, you've mastered the Kyuubi. You've mastered western sword styles, mastered all Earth and Wind chakra. Hell, you even have a nature spirit that follows you around like award. How am I ever supposed to handle that?" Ino said pressing her face back into his chest.

"I'll let you in on a secret Ino that I want you to keep between us." He said which Ino nodded to. "When I was a kid I knew nothing. Couldn't even produce a single shadow clone like we did at the academy. When I learned that my father was the fourth Hokage and my mother was the Uzumaki Jinchuuriki of Kurama I was terrified I'd let them down."

"For months I struggled with my expectations, I forced Shini to teach me at extreme speeds and Shinoko had no choice but to train me to help me against Shini. It took so long for me to realize that it's not others expectations that matter. I set out into the woods one day all alone, and when I came back I had figured it out."

"It's all about what you want. I lessened my training and focused more on finding out what I wanted in life. I'm no master of the sword, or wind and earth. I'm only master to what I feel is all I need in life from them. I haven't mastered Kurama. The seal if fading as we speak, the gate inside my chakra is open allowing him complete control of my chakra. Me and he have a bond that allows me to control him sometimes but I'm never in control."

Naruto's words pained her to hear. She let go of him and looked him in the eyes. "What if I want isn't to be the strongest or to be Hokage? What if it is simply being reliable to my friends. I feel so useless to you guys on missions." Ino spoke in a way that showed Naruto her true emotions.

His eyes saddened. "Ino, I had no idea it was that bad. I… I don't know what to do. I'm no teacher, I don't have a solution for everything." Naruto said causing the room to fall silent.

"I know, Ask your parents if you can stay at the Uzumaki compound for a few nights a week, I'll have the Shinitoris train you like they did me. I still am your main teacher, I'll tell Sasuke he'll have to wait."

Ino's face at the words erupted with emotion, she jumped onto Naruto, hugging his neck. "Thank you!" She screamed giving him a quick peck on the cheek before jumping back down. She apologized for the sudden burst of movement and together the walked towards the door. When Naruto opened it Sakura was sitting against where it was with her ear to the door.

"I… Uh… I wasn't doing anything, just dropped something that's all." Naruto and Ino laughed as did Hinata although she was still shy.

Line Break:

The next day Naruto woke up like normal. He walked from the clan head's room into the bathroom where he did his morning routine. When he entered the main room where Shinoko was cooking breakfast he noticed Sasuke and Ino were sitting on the center couch.

"What a surprise. Good morning." He said taking a seat at the bar. Shinoko was making his favorite, pancakes.

"Oh I must have forgotten to tell you, but while you were unconscious Sasuke moved in. He said you offered it to him and since we're being targeted I welcomed it."

"Really? That's awesome." Naruto smiled his way. Shinoko placed a large stack in front of Naruto and a smaller stack on the ground for Shadow. Sasuke sat next to Naruto at the bar and Shinoko placed down his pancakes.

"You hungry Ino?" She called out to her. Ino nodded and sat on the other side of Naruto. Together they all ate. Naruto although having twice as much as anybody else was the first to finish.

"Did Kakashi say anything about us training or are we still free to do our own thing? I have something I need to take care of if not." Naruto asked Sasuke.

"He said to be on heightened alert, but other than that we're not meeting for a while." He answered.

"Shinoko remember what I told you last night," Naruto said to her, his eyes leading hers to Ino. Naruto threw on his coat and Shadow jumped to his side before he and the spirit vanished.

Line Break:

Somewhere in the thick forest surrounding Konoha.

All tall shinto gate stood in front of a long stairwell that leads to the reasonably sized temple. Naruto was walking up the stairs when he got to the door it had a large black seal. He read the seal for a moment then bit the tip of his thumb causing it to bleed. He pushed his hand against the stone doors and pressed hard as the seal unlocked the temple.

He pushed the doors open and walked into the temple. He looked around in awe at the beautiful masks that hung from the walls. He walked through the halls marveling at them. Eventually, he found what he was looking for.

He reached up and pulled from the wall the mask labeled: Transition. Behind it where the wall was, a small hole held a scroll. He grabbed the scroll and read it. It acted as instructions to the mask.

Naruto sat on his knees in the center of the temple and placed the scroll flat in front of himself. He put the mask on and wiped some blood on it. The area around him slowed until it seemed time itself had stopped.

"Minato Namikaze. I call to your spirit." He said aloud. The temple shook violently for a few seconds before a black cloud rose in front of him. Stepping from the cloud was Minato.

"Naruto stood and watched as the man walked from the mist. "What is your name spirit?" Naruto demanded.

Hesitantly it spoke. "Minato Namikaze." The black mist vanished as his finished materializing.

Naruto relaxed sat back down. "Naruto?" Minato's voice now prominent

from the spirit though still echoed. The spirit leaned forward and went to hug the boy. His body phased through the boy.

Minato quivered slightly at the fact they couldn't touch. "What do you need?" He said hesitantly.

"The seal on the Kyuubi is becoming unstable…" Naruto said. Minato's eyes shook at the sound of his voice. "I need you to teach me the seal, so I can strengthen it," Naruto added.

"S-Sure, here." Minato started to teach him the way he developed the seal. He explained the way you channel your chakra and the way you form the barrier.

"Thank you, dad," Naruto said as they finished the short session. Minato smiled at the blond.

"Anytime Naruto." He said with a smile and a closed eye. Naruto slowly removed his mask and watched as Minato slowly faded from existence. Time seemed to pick up where it left off.

Naruto sighed hard and fell on his back. He stared at the ceiling holding his hand straight up. "I can do this!" He said before the snapping back up.

Sitting on his knees again he pulled up his shirt. He channeled chakra into his fingernails and stabbed them into the large black seal that appeared. His fingers twitched in a certain way before he twisted them like a vault. He could feel the chakra from Kurama fade until he couldn't feel it anymore.

He coughed slightly from the pain of losing so much chakra but still smiled. He stood and threw his arms up. "Yes! I did it!" He screamed.

He closed the building and walked down the stairs. Shadow rubbed himself against the teen once Naruto reached the bottom of the long staircase. Naruto stroked his elegant fur a few times before rubbing his foxy chin.

Naruto stopped before he and Shadow started towards the compound. He closed his eyes and struggled to muster a connection with Kurama. "Kurama, you there buddy?" He spoke in his mind.

Silence. Naruto continued to call to the beast. He felt defeated after several minutes of trying. Until finally he and Shadow jumped into the trees towards the compound.

Line Break:

Shinoko stepped in close and smashed her palm in Ino's chest sending her jumping back. Ino regained her breath and charged again. Shinoko gracefully dodged three punches and caught Ino's kick.

"Naruto's training has really built you muscles, but if you can't out maneuver me than your strength is useless," Shinoko told her. Ino stared her down and dropped to the ground. She spun and kicked out, knocking Shinoko off her feet.

Sasuke watched from the walkway as the two went at it. He used his Sharingan to study the moves. In his mind, if he wasn't sparring he would use his Sharingan to follow along and train himself.

Ino was finally bested and dropped to the ground, Shinoko stood over her with a fist on her throat. Shinoko stepped over a bit and her hand grabbed Ino's. Helping her up they made their way to Sasuke.

"I have to say, you have more talent than Naruto. You should have seen the way he sparred back in the day." She laughed.

"I heard that!" Naruto said dropping from the roof in front of them. He looked over Ino then looked over Shinoko. "Shinoko can I talk to in private?" He added walking behind the building. Shinoko looked at Ino and shrugged her shoulders, but followed.

"What is it?" She said curiously to the teen, as she came around the corner.

"I went to the temple in eastern forest, the mask sanctuary." He said with a slight pain.

"The seal on the Kyuubi has been breaking ever since the Zabuza fight. I went there and talked to my father, were he gave the means of fixing the seal."

Shinoko looked on with strong curiosity. "Well isn't it a good thing you don't have to worry about releasing him?" She said to further the conversation.

"I can't feel his chakra… I can't speak to him." He said with watered eyes.

"I don't understand?" Shinoko said as Naruto hugged her.

"I've lost my best friend…" He winced in her chest.

"What about Shadow? What about Sasuke and Ino?" What about us?" She asked gently.

"It's not the same… He was the only thing that connected me to my father and my mother. He was the stamp on my body that drove me to accomplish things." Naruto had short tear streaks on his cheeks.

"What if you simply have to break the seal like you did before?" Shinoko tried to console the child.

"That's right, he first spoke to me when I was about to die. Maybe that's how I break the seal?" Naruto said stepping back from her. He looked at his hands with strange eyes as he spoke.

Shinoko looked at him with concern. "That's not what I meant. You shouldn't put yourself in danger to bring him back. Killing yourself won't bring him back." She said grabbing his hands.

Naruto pulled himself free and vanished alone in a streak of black.

"Gad damn it!" Shinoko yelled.

Ino and Sasuke walked in from the corner, they were listening to the whole conversation.

"Not this again, He had a similar trip when he was nine. He lost connection when he used his chakra cloak. He'll be back but we should still look for him." Shinoko said placing a hand on her face.

"Should we tell the others?" Ino asked.

"No, we three should suffice. I know where to look." She said walking into the building.

"Get ready for survival, we might need to camp out for the night."

Line Break:

Three ninjas stood on a thick branch looking over the mountain. "He usually comes there to think. Let's hope he's still there." Shinoko said to the group. Ino and Sasuke were standing behind her.

Shinoko was wearing a red cloth suit with black armor on her forearm to her wrist. Her waist was wrapped in thick black fabric and her hair was held back by a black headband with the Uzumaki seal.

They blasted off the tree and jumped through the forest at extreme speed. Ino watched as Sasuke struggled to keep up. "Sasuke are you alright?" Ino asked him ducking under a branch.

"I-I'm fine." He said out of breath. They continued until finally, Shinoko dropped from the trees. After a second the teens fell with a bundle of leaves around them on the ground.

Shinoko was looking down in a small cavern. "This is where Naruto first used the Kyuubi and where he found Shadow." She said before sliding down the incline into the cavern. Ino looked at Sasuke with a curious look, which he shrugged and slid down after her. Ino followed them into the dark depths.

The sunlight shined down through the cracks giving the rock a slightly luminous look.

"Naruto!" Shinoko yelled as they walked. They traveled the majority of the cave until the sun stopped shining through the cracks.

"Here the ground seems pretty flat here, let's camp out here," Shinoko suggested placing her sleeping bag she carried on her back down. Ino agreed and let her unroll against a large rock.

Sasuke pulled from his satchel on his waist some tender and stacked it up. He formed a small fireball Jutsu and slowly blew causing a line of fire to ignite the wood. Surprisingly there was wood all around. Rainwater must have pushed it down there.

Shinoko looked uneasy into the fire as everyone ate the small rations they had in their bags. Knowing that everyone was being hunted made her scared, she thought back to fight. If it wasn't for Sasuke's Sharingan she would have lost her Naruto.

Clenching her fist she dismissed the thought, she stood and walked to the entrance of the cave. She took a minute or two but finally reached the edge where the moon shone in an angelic atmosphere. She stared at the moon, she remembered all the times she and Naruto trained.

She thought of all the times they spent lying together as she read him a bedtime story. She remembered all the times he spent with her in the kitchen. She remembered the first time he called her his mother. She hated it at first since she was so loyal to Kushina, but she also felt that he was like a son to her.

He treated her with kindness and respected her like a mother. And she took care of him since he was a kid. Her mind stopped in its tracks as she remembered the days after he left the training grounds. The dull mornings, the quiet nights. She teared up at the thought of her boy being taken from her. She closed her eyes and clenched her fist at her waist.

When she came into the light of the fire she was confronted by a man with black hair. He was standing in the fire, two black figures stood next him, each with an injection in their hands. They went to inject it into Ino and Sasuke's neck but shuriken shattered the vials.

"Don't worry my darling. It was merely a tranquilizer." His voice was high pitched with a sinister laugh following behind it.

"I do say, my dear, you look terrified. I assure you I'm only here for the boy. We've been following you three and it looks as though you don't know where he is either." The man said stepping towards Shinoko.

The mention of taking Naruto triggered her and she instinctively pounced. The two figures positioned themselves between the two. Shinoko punched one and kicked the other sending them crashing into the rock.

"You will not hurt my son!" She roared slamming a fist into the man's face. Time froze for a moment as Shinoko looked at the man. His hand caught her fist and he didn't budge, his hair didn't even sway.

She coughed as he kneed her in the stomach. The sound of the figures crashing woke Sasuke and Ino. They charged from behind but Ino was flipped over him and Sasuke poked in the eyes. He threw Ino into Shinoko and kicked Sasuke over to them.

R-Run!" Shinoko coughed out before engaging him again. This time, they went back in forth, strikes matching each other. They expertly fought as Sasuke and Ino ran to the exit.

They ran up the incline and looked back into the cave. Ino was nervous and her sword shook in her hands. Sasuke still somewhat blinded held on eye shut. After a few loud thumps, Shinoko's body was thrown from the darkness, she smacked into a tree and fell to the ground. He back against the wood she coughed up blood.

Ino dropped to a knee by her side. "Shinoko!" She shouted. Sasuke watched as the man slowly walked from the shadows. His psychotic laughter was loud in the air. Sasuke panicked and formed a lightning cutter and charged.

"No, Sasuke," Shinoko whispered holding an arm out. Sasuke reached the man and pulsed his chakra expanding the blade. The man smiled as he grabbed Sasuke's hand with the electricity still zapping.

"Funny tricks won't hurt me. Don't you know who I am?" He said with the flick of the wrist. The motion broke Sasuke's arm and send him flying into a large tree. His scream echoed through the trees.

Shinoko stood with the help of Ino. "I won't let you take Naruto!" She roared through the forest. Her muscles doubled in size before condensing. "Just have to outmaneuver him." She thought to herself blasting forwards. She went for a punch and as the man went to block it she slid kicking his shins.

They both stood back up, a few feet from each other. "That was cheap, but you don't have much of a choice I suppose." The man said with a wipe of his brow. Shinoko opened the sixth gate of View. With her opening the gate she gained all the benefits and problems of the previous five.

The ground crushed under her feet as she launched forward. She punched so fast the wind couldn't keep up. She landed several body shots before grabbing the man's neck. She lifted him up and smashed his face into a nearby rock shattering it completely.

She jumped back to Ino and her gate closed causing her to fall to the ground. They all watched as the man laid there. After a few moments of suspense he slowly stood, he rotated his neck cracking it back in place.

His expression had changed for the first time during the entire encounter. He was furious, he flattened his hand and bolted forwards. Shinoko screamed and pushed Ino as he closed in. Shinoko was pierced through the heart, he lifted her up and pinned her against a tree.

"I hope the boy screams, I hope he cries. I want him to feel this loss for his entire life." The man smiled as he drew back his arm. He went to slash at her throat but his limp was removed as it passed by.

He jumped back letting Shinoko fall. She fell onto Shadow's bushy tail. Ino and Sasuke stood flabbergasted as Naruto stood in front of Shinoko. He had his sword drawn and held it down by his leg.

His face was also looking at the ground. Tears ran down his face. "Shinoko…." He whispered softly before he blasted forwards. The immense speeds were even greater than Shinoko's gate release.

The man's eyes widened as Naruto appeared in front of him. He smashed the man's shoulder with his fist and spun slicing off his other arm. Naruto stopped about a foot or so behind the man as he fell.

Now seeing his eyes for the first time, Naruto's eyes were red with a diamond shape. His fangs showed themselves as he turned around the face the man. The man's body exploded into a cloud of smoke.

Naruto swiped his hand and the force cleared the smoke in an instant. Standing in the center of where the smoke used to be was the man. His body had fully been restored. Naruto's eyes twitched as he roared out.

His sword formed a black hue around the already red edge. He dashed forward and stabbed the blade into the man's chest.

"Yes! Feed me more boy." The man spoke. Naruto growled and grabbed the man by the shoulder and stabbed his again. The wound from the first stab had steam come from it as it closed shut. The man laughed and punched Naruto.

Naruto rolled on the ground into the cavern. After a moment the rock erupted, large orange tails pressed themselves above ground. Naruto jumped into the air in his chakra cloak. In his hand was a red Rasengan. The man held out a hand taking the brunt of the attack.

The ball swirled and the man's arm blasted apart, the ball stopped on his shoulder and ricocheted. Ino barely dodged the ball as it was flung into the woods. Immense force and light came rushing from the trees as it exploded.

"Naruto you idiot he is feeding off the Kyuubi's chakra!" Sasuke yelled forming the rib cage of his Susanoo. The large arm smacked the man away from Naruto. Sasuke collapsed to one knee and held his eye as it bled.

Shinoko was starting to regain consciousness. She leaned up on Shadow, the spirit was licking her wound. Its saliva was slowly numbing the skin and closing the very edge of the wound.

She looked over at Sasuke and Ino and smiled knowing they were okay. She continued to look around and stopped when she saw Naruto clashing with the man in Taijutsu. Naruto knocked back and in his moment of recovery, she saw the man charge him like he did her. She closed her eyes and flashed.

Naruto opened his eyes, his cloak shattered and he saw Shinoko standing in front of him. She faced him and looked him in the eyes. Her spine was severed from the man's hand. "Sh...Sh...Shinoko…"Naruto mumbled as she fell against his chest. She hugged onto him and started to cry.

"I'm s..sorry," Shinoko whispered. "I-I love you, stay strong…" She gasped before she slid off his shirt and fell to the ground.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Life's a bitch…

Also interesting fact, Kakashi has a Mangekyo Sharingan. Don't know why he never uses it but he gained it when he killed Rin. Gotta love anime/Manga logic.

Also (again) There won't be much 'action' so I threw in a training scene to give a little more action but this is mostly emotional chapter… Well at least that was my intention, I have no idea how this will turn out.

Chap 11:

"And to think all this fuss over a single child." The man chuckled standing straight. His smile and gaze met with Naruto's frozen body.

"Shi...Shi...Shinoko?" Naruto said dropping to his knees, he raised her head and looked at her face. His mouth was open and his eyes absent as his mind shattered. He pressed her head against his chest. He closed his eyes.

"I've lost more in the past day than you can ever imagine. I lost my best friend this morning and the drive the strengthen myself, and now you on top of that immense feeling just killed my mother… I lost my parents before, but I wasn't there to avenge them… I am now." Naruto said standing in a twitchy manner.

Sasuke's Sharingan flex and a large Susanoo arm covered him and Ino. Naruto's body exploded with a field of force sending everything around him away. Once the dust settled there was nothing, no trees, no cavern, and no mysterious man. Naruto, however, was covered in a red and black chakra cloak. Maniacal hueing resonated from him.

A thin stream of water pierced his shoulder. The chakra formed to the water and ripped off his body exposing his physical shoulder. The chakra around his body expanded sealing him off before teleporting to the man. He was standing behind a tree with his hands still in Jutsu formation.

The cloak smacked him slightly. The force sent the man bouncing against the ground. Naruto teleported again before appearing beneath the man, where he fired a laser from his mouth. The man grunted in pain as the left half of his body was completely erased. The man spun and slid on one leg. He stopped himself before pressing his palm against Naruto. The teen was pushed through the ground back next to Shinoko.

His chakra cloak ceased leaving him lying on his back parallel to Shinoko. He looked over to her, Shinoko's final words played on repeat in his mind. The man flashed on top of Naruto, he reached down and lifted the teen by his neck. Naruto didn't struggle.

The man pulled his arm back and his hand shaped like a knife. He stabbed at Naruto but his hand stopped a hair from his throat. A large white silhouette was wrapping itself around the man. The large white beast snapped its heavy jaw against the man's neck causing him to let go of Naruto. It ripped back and forth before letting the man fly to the ground.

Naruto opened his eyes, "Shadow?". Shadow had grown immensely in size, he now stood three men high and had ferocious fangs and claws. The man stood slowly, his left half still missing and a large bloody mark where Shadow's teeth sank in.

The man smiled. "I'll tell you what kid, you're making this one hell of a fun fight." The man added before yelling. His left side bulged before a slimy new arm and leg shot from the wounds. "You see after I learned this immortal Jutsu life has just been...boring without a challenge. I hope you four can give me the challenge I so deserve before I kill you."

Shadow pounced on the man and they entered a fierce battle. His mighty claws stripped flesh as it grew and his nature chakra spewed like white fire around him. Ino and Sasuke sneaked around the debris to Naruto as the titans clashed.

"Naruto, wake up!" Ino said slapping him in the face. His eyes were unresponsive and just stared at the night sky. Sasuke looked at him, his face with disgust.

"And here I thought you were strong. I liked up to you, no. We all looked up to you, now look at you. You're a failure. You lost your best friend, your parents, and now Shinoko because you're weak." Sasuke's words caused Ino to tear up. Naruto's head shifted in her lap from the stars to Sasuke.

"Hell because of you, we're all going to die. You come back the village and make some friends then because you can't handle yourself you kill everyone you know and love." Sasuke added as he walked towards Shadow. "I'll handle this myself since you obviously can't."

Naruto's eyes followed the teen. He looked back up at Ino's face. He rolled onto his front and stood to her level. "Ino, I want you to remember what I told you the other day. I don't care what you have to do, but take Sasuke back to the village and warn the Hokage." His voice was pained and tears were in his eyes.

"What you want me to just leave you here? No we…" She was cut off by Naruto kissing her on the lips. Ino blushed in embarrassment before Naruto stood completely. He walked over to his sword that was on the ground a few feet away.

"Don't forget Shadow either." He added with a smile as he looked back at her. He looked up at the sky and his sword turned a bright red. He dashed passed Sasuke, then under Shadow where he slammed his sword into the man. His body was sent like a bullet from the impact, even there ground crushed into a colossal crater. Shadow licked the boy's face.

"Shadow, I want you to take Ino and Sasuke home." He said before vanishing.

Shadow howled at the moon and quickly ran towards Shinoko who he grabbed in his mouth lightly. Ino grabbed onto his fur and lifted herself onto his back. As they passed Sasuke she leaned over and grabbed his arm pulling him aboard.

Line Break:

Naruto leg after leg jumped ahead following the trail of destruction. The man's impact left a long trail where his body slid to a stop. Naruto finally found the end but the man was already gone. Just in time, Naruto held his sword up slicing a powerful stream of water into a v-shape around him. Naruto gunned it for the source, slicing more blast along the way.

When he dove into the trees the man roundhoused him, dazed Naruto slashed at the man causing a large laceration across the man's chest. The man fell to the ground as the wound healed. Naruto took his blade and stabbed it straight down through the man's spine before slicing his right arm off.

"Hue Hue Hue. You don't get it, boy. You cannot kill me, I can regenerate through any attack." the man said with a smug smile.

"Okay then regenerate through this." Naruto roared as he formed a colossal red Rasengan. He pushed into directly into the man's chest sending him flying. Naruto channeled his wind chakra into his sword and slashed as hard as he could several times at the man propelling his chakra. His chakra cloak activated and his appeared next to the man as they all made contact with him.

"Tailed-Beast Bomb: Righteous Sword!" Naruto shouted as he swiped his sword against what was left of the man. His body completely evaporated as light blinded the area.

Naruto now stood in his cloak above the man's chest and head. That was all that was left after the devastating barrage. The man started to laugh as blood spouted from his mouth. Naruto formed his hand in a claw-like fashion as his fingertips channeled chakra. He placed his hand against the man's chest.

His chakra formed a black seal on the man's chest. "I'm going to seal you away forever so you and you're immortality can watch the entire world through the empty void that is this seal," Naruto said twisting the seal shut. The man's laughter slowly faded as his body solidified before turning into stone.

Naruto laughed at the joy of stopping him as he fell on his back. The morning sun was rising over the thick blanket of clouds. It brought with it a nasty rain storm. Droplets fell against the teen's face as he laid there in the dirt. He started to cry profusely and uncontrollably sobbing made him grab his face.

He rolled over to his belly and punched the ground causing it to rumble beneath him. He leaned forward and yelled at the top of his lungs. He smashed his forehead against the ground before he stood.

He sheathed his sword. He channeled his fingertips and grabbed the seal on his stomach. "I don't care anymore." He said turning it. The black lines dispersed into the air and red chakra swirled around him.

Kurama's entire body stretched out of Naruto and formed solid next to him. The massive fox looked him in the eye. "Naruto? What's the meaning of this?" He questioned the teen.

"I'm tired of worrying about you. I strengthened the seal so you couldn't escape but it cut us off and left me without you. I destroyed my added protection." Naruto said pushing a fist outwards. "I need to know, are you with me, or are you going to release yourself and continue to be the Kyuubi you're rumored to be?" Naruto asked.

Kurama sat lost in thought for a moment. "Well it seems without me you can't do much and I've come to like you, runt. I'll stay in one condition. You stop acting like the brat you are!" Kurama said placing his massive hand against Naruto's.

Naruto wiped his tears and jumped onto Kurama's back. "Let's head back to the village." The teen said sitting on the top of his head.

Kurama's massive legs started to move and they quickly came into sight of the village.

As they neared the gates Kurama condensed back into Naruto as he entered his chakra cloak. Naruto slid on his feet into the town as everyone watched in fear.

They all stared at him like he was a demon. "Th-that was the Kyuubi!" the all yelled running inside. Naruto didn't care. He walked through the town, he was happy that he could speak to Kurama again and they had finally clarified that they were a team. Although the memories of Shinoko plagued him.

He entered the Uzumaki compound. Kakashi stood alone in the open area before you enter the main building.

"Naruto!" He said rushing to the boy. He grabbed his arms. "You're alright? Did you stop him?" Kakashi said in a panicked tone.

"I… I sealed him away. He can't do anything to anybody for a long time. Where are Shinoko and the others?" He replied releasing his chakra cloak.

"They're inside. They've been pretty shaken up so be gentle when you walk in." Kakashi said as he held a hand towards the door. He followed Naruto as he walked through the paper door into the center building.

When he entered the room he saw Shinoko laying in the center of the room. Above her was Tomoko and Shini, they were both using their medical Jutsu on her. Ino sat on the couch from afar, her face was distraught. She had Shadow, who was back to normal, in her lap stroking his fur. Sasuke stood next to Shinoko. He looked her in the eye and used his Mangekyo Sharingan to read her chakra levels.

Naruto walked slowly to Shini's side and activated his chakra cloak on the highest level. He firmly placed his hands against Shini and Tomoko. He transferred his chakra amplifying their chakra strength seven-fold. He then placed his right hand on her heart.

"Kurama, you ready for this?" Naruto said internally to the fox.

"Be careful, you could kill yourself in the process," Kurama replied as he gave all his available chakra to Naruto. Naruto's eyes lost their pupil and turned a bright white, his skin and black clothing turned into a solid red cover.

A red hue intensified around his right hand as the chakra gathered in it. The red cloak traveled across his body to his right hand causing a blinding red light. Naruto pressed his chakra into her. Her body jumped several times like someone had taken a defibrillator to her chest.

"No! Why isn't it working?" Naruto said pressing down with now two hands. Shini and Tomoko lifted their hands and watched as Naruto desperately tried to revive her.

"Take the damn chakra! Don't you leave me!" He shouted. Sasuke watched with clenched eyes as his Sharingan showed him her chakra pools. They were so damaged from the fight and now Naruto's chakra was breaking them.

"Naruto?" Shini said grabbing the boy. "Naruto! She's gone!" He yelled pulling the boy off of her. As he was pulled back Naruto clawed the ground and reached out to her body. Sasuke jumped to Shini's aid restraining Naruto.

Naruto watched as Tomoko and Kakashi enclosed her body. His arms went limp and his face fell. Tears streaked down his cheeks as his body collapsed in fatigue.

Line Break:

Five Days Later:

The Hokage stood at a podium in the middle of the crowd. Behind him was a luxurious brown coffin with a ceremonial robe. The robe was white and green and had the Konoha village mark on the center.

"Today we mark the burial of a great hero. Shinoko Shintoris, a mother to some and a beloved sister to others, she fought to protect or village and all of the Great Nations. As a tribute to her great sacrifice, we bury her with the highest amount of respect. Now many of you may not have known Shinoko, but she was caring, person. She has raised some of our strongest ninjas, helped some many shop owners. She will be missed but her will of fire will never die out!"

Naruto wore complete black ninja gear, he unlike usual was wearing the black mask Tomoko had made for him so long ago.

Kakashi and all of team seven made their way to the podium. Kakashi saluted the casket as did Sasuke and Ino. Naruto just stared at it. He looked at her face in the open half of the casket. A tear dripped from the tip of his mask as he slowly raised his arm into a salute. Kurama inside his dark dimension closed his eyes in prayer for the woman.

Six Anbu leaned down and lifted the casket by three spokes that shot from each side. They walked through the crowd as everyone paid their respects. Team Seven and the Shintoris followed the Anbu back to the Uzumaki Compound. They walked through the courtyard and down into the secret cemetery. Shini had already dug the grave where they lowered the casket.

Naruto stayed behind as everyone else went to the main room. Two Anbu stayed behind as well to fill the hole back in with dirt then place the headstone down. Naruto watched in silence as they buried the coffin. His mind was lost in thought until his arm was pulled back. He turned to see Ino. Her face was sad and her thin eyes red and watery.

She hugged Naruto. "Why don't you come inside? I'm sure you're tired." She said as she laid her head against his chest. Naruto was stiff and emotionless. Ever since their kiss Ino had become more touchy, which Naruto didn't mind. The only reason he didn't resuscitate the feeling was because how could he show low and happiness when he just lost his mother, the second time.

Ino broke apart from him and grabbed his hand. She tugged on it before he finally started to follow. They left the cemetery and entered the main building. Shini sat leaning forward, his hands covering his face. Tomoko stood at the bar rubbing his forehead. The tension in the room was so thick you could almost see it. Sasuke was even affected. He was holding the picture Shinoko gave him of his and Naruto's mothers.

Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and tried to console him but his words did nothing to Naruto's broken spirit.

Line Break:

Three weeks since the funeral:

The training of Team Seven changed drastically after that day. It became more and more challenging and eventually turned into sparring to apply what they had learned. Naruto had reached the point to where he would beg his team member to spar hi styles. They agreed.

Naruto stood motionless staring the three down. Kakashi launched a dozen shuriken before using his lightning cutter. Sasuke followed up with a Wind Style: Rapid Shuriken technique he learned from Kakashi.

Naruto in an instant sliced every shuriken in half and grabbed the lightning blade with his left hand. It was covered in his standard blue chakra. The rules of the spar were no Kyuubi or Mangekyo Sharingan.

Sasuke sparked behind Kakashi and charged. Kakashi erupted into smoke as his body was replaced leaving Naruto open for the attack. Sasuke neared but was sent to the ground by a backhand. Ino appeared behind Naruto and slashed with her sword. Shini was still teaching her how to use the sword so she was much more adept than before, she was even able to beat Sasuke in a blade fight with his Sharingan activated.

Naruto blocked the attack and the two engaged in a show of swordsmanship. During their duel Kakashi and Sasuke continuously attacked. Naruto was still on another level, he easily blocked and countered everything they fired at him.

Since the funeral his training regimen as triple in weight. He went from running the compound, to running the village several times over. He went from weight lifting weights to crushing and lifting large boulders. He even started to meditate and read all the secret Jutsu in the Clan Library.

He found one section of scrolls which talked about sage art. He read them and with his Kyuubi chakra and will to get stronger he learned to channel nature chakra to enhance his Jutsu. He still doesn't have a complete Sage mode but he can enter a bastardized version of it. His progress in three weeks made even the Hokage astonished.

Naruto channeled his wind chakra into his sword and pressed it out. Ino was sent stepping back, which saved her from Sasuke's poorly times Fireball Jutsu. The fire consumed the area Naruto stood in. The all three watched with intent knowing it wasn't the end.

A black figure appeared in the fire. Naruto swiped his arm causing the fire to starve from the lack of air. He pressed two fingers to the lips of his mask. The ground shook as six golems rose from the ground. Each massive and size and heavy enough to crush the ground from walking.

Kakashi and Sasuke dodged their attacks with the help of the Sharingan. Ino, however, countered each strike with her wooden sword. She shattered the stone with each strike, as did the others.

Naruto fell to one knee from the release of chakra. Nearly three hundred clones spawned from thin air, each staring them in the eye.

"Well, that's unfortunate," Kakashi said tossing his kunai up and down. "Well Sasuke I think it's safe to assume me and you can use our Mangekyo Sharingan." He added before entering his Kamui.

Sasuke smiled as a large purple rib cage formed around him. The large structure whipped its arm against several clones causing them to explode. Ino remembered what Shini had told her about fighting when outnumbered. "Always use the enemy against themselves."

She dodged swords and stabbed a clone rotating causing it to take several slices for her. Kakashi appeared behind the original Naruto. He grabbed him and pulled him into the void.

"What's with you today? You seem more agitated. Usually, you don't use this stupid clone garbage." Kakashi said looking the mask dead in the slits. "Hm no answer, fitting. Well, you should end the spar, I have news I think you'd like to hear." He said dropping Naruto from the void. The teen was high in the air.

Naruto fell to the ground landing next to Sasuke. Sasuke and he made eye contact and instantly the area around Naruto transformed into a Genkai. Sasuke smiled as all the clone dispersed.

Naruto stood but slowly started to walked towards Sasuke. His lack of pain and fear of death allowed him to break Sasuke's weak Genkai. He grabbed Sasuke mid gasp by the throat and lifted him. He then dropped the child and walked over to a tree that was knocked down during the fight. He sat down and removed his mask.

His eyes were wide open and he didn't blink as he cleaned the dust and ash from the inside. Once he placed it back on he stood and walked to Kakashi. Ino and Sasuke came to his side.

"Alright, so great news. Apparently this year for the fall festival they're going to have a small tournament for the Genin teams. Now you sensei would never abuse your strength but he's also out of money and there is a five thousand yen prize so… I want you three to enter and win me my rent money… I mean win us our prize." Kakashi said pulling his book from his jacket.

Sasuke and Ino jumped in excitement. "Finally someone we can actually beat!" Ino cheered jumping in the air. Naruto nodded to his sensei and gave Sasuke an apologetic stare. He then released Kurama. The tall fox was in the middle of a nap and woke. His surprised location resulted in an accidental Tailed-Beast Bomb to a nearby mountain. Kurama coughed with embarrassment as Naruto jumped onto his back.

The beast stood and shook Naruto off. "Boy can you not see I'm trying to sleep? Walk back to the compound your damn self!" Kurama roared in rage. Ino and Sasuke laughed at Naruto but stopped when his head twisted their way.

Kurama condensed back into the boy and Naruto let out a pained sigh. He turned around and grabbed Ino's hand, he then pulled her to the side.

"Kurama won't take me to the Konoha 7 flower garden. Do you think I could have some flowers from your parent's shop?" He asked. Ino exploded with happiness. It was the first time he spoke in almost three days.

"Yes! We can go now if you want?" She said.

Sasuke looked over with a raised eyebrow. "Whatever." He added before he walked away, probably back to the room he had on the compound.

Line Break:

Naruto hugged Ino goodbye as she left him at the entrance of the compound. He had in his hand a large bouquet of beautiful red flowers. Red was Shinoko's favorite color as she always wore it. He walked slowly through the courtyard on his way to the secret cemetery. He stopped at the entrance when he heard Shini's voice.

"Hey sis, I just came by to see how your flowers were doing... I… I miss you sis, not a day goes by that I don't think of you. I know Naruto and Tomoko do too. I can see it on the boy's face. I wish you were here, he's become so gloomy. He's been pushing himself to the bone to get stronger. I just don't click with him like you did sis. He needs someone and I don't know how to be that someone…" Shini said as he began to softly cry.

He dropped to his knees in front of her grave. A bottle of sake fell from his hands. "Why did they take you? Why! Why my sister? Why his mother? Why my family. You may be dead, but I lost more than one family member that day…" He cried to the grave his large hands covering his face.

"What do I do Shinoko? I don't know anymore! I can't do this without you!" He shouted drinking from his sake bottle. "Hell since you two left my only company has been this damn cancer of a habit!" He added throwing the bottle against the wall shattering the glass.

His crying intensified but his sobbing stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Naruto's hand grasped his shoulder. Shini stood facing the boy. "Oh! My bad, I was just…" He said before Naruto hugged the man tightly.

Naruto laid the flowers down and removed his mask from his face and dropped it to the ground. "Shini… I'm sorry I've left you alone in this. Together we can work through this, we can remember her together. I want you to always remember. You are my dad, you are the man who raised me. You will always be Shini Shintoris, Sensei, Father, and Brother." Naruto said.

Shini's eyes ceased to water and he smiled at Naruto. "You know kid, you always seem to know what to say to make this old heart happy." He said wrapping a shoulder around Naruto. They walked out of the cemetery. Naruto gave one last look back at the tombstone where he swears he saw Shinoko smiling as she smelt the flowers he brought her.


End file.
